I just can’t help myself. If I don’t have anything to obsess or stress about, Lord knows I’ll hunt something down. It’s really quite annoying. Oftentimes, if I’ve had a relatively peaceful day, I’ll find myself having nightmares that evening…nightmares about ridiculously exaggerated daily events! I feel like I have some sort of autoimmune condition where my sanity attacks itself over and over to the point where I’m a complete mess!
It all started when I was younger. It was fun back then; I would make lists to stay organized, I would make sure I was always responsible, always on time, and always adhered to the social norms. Looking back, it was actually a pretty rough life for a kid in elementary school. I was constantly under my own self-imposed pressure to be perfect. I also read a lot (not a bad thing) and developed a grammatical intelligence far beyond my years. I loved reading other kid’s papers in school and correcting all of their grammatical errors (how weird is that?!). This further contributed to my perfectionist mentality.
What the heck does all of this have to do with cooking and health, you might ask. It actually has a lot to do with it, in my kitchen anyway. Yes, I want to find that perfect combination of ingredients and create meals that everyone will love, but that won’t always happen. And I don’t need to beat myself up if it doesn’t. Preparing food should, first and foremost, be a therapeutic activity.
For me, cooking has become the ultimate in healing. Not only is my body healed when I cook with whole, organic foods but my mind is also restored. That may be an odd thing to say since I think most people view cooking as a pesky household chore, but I think it needs to be approached differently. I have found that when placing more of an emphasis on quality of ingredients, your grocery store purchase suddenly becomes much more valuable. No longer do I throw a few boxes of mac and cheese on the shelf and forget about them, but now I know every single food that is in my kitchen and where it can be found. Also, when I have really great ingredients in my home, it’s difficult NOT to make nutritiously dense meals.
When I’m super stressed, I find comfort in slicing veggies for a homemade soup or creating a flavorful meat sauce on the stove. On those days when I’m full of anxiety, I usually go for more familiar dishes and skip the twenty step gourmet meals. Cooking familiar foods simply and from scratch is a very therapeutic experience. Maybe it’s all those succulent aromas, maybe it’s the feeling of being in my own kitchen away from the world, or maybe it’s just knowing that I’m going to be eating a deliciously healthy meal, but suddenly my soul is happy. I encourage you all to find that peace for yourselves.
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Friday, July 1, 2011
Taco Night!
I love being in the kitchen. Obviously. If I have the time, I truly enjoy spending a couple of hours cooking up an elaborate meal. But life happens and often I don’t have that kind of time to prepare our food. On those days I greatly appreciate my favorite quick and easy go-to recipe. I’m sure most people have some version of “taco night”, and at Casa De Huling, ours happens to be a “taco-less taco night.”
When I was a kid I loved taco night. It was awesome. All that yummy seasoned meat, cheese, and veggies was so fun to assemble on my plate. My mom always set it up like a taco bar, so we could pick and choose what we wanted to have on our plates. Dave and I do our taco night the exact same way, but with a few menu variations.
At first we felt more than a little lost without that humongous, white tortilla to wrap everything up in. I think Dave actually got a little teary-eyed when I told him I would no longer be cooking with tortillas. But after some contemplation, we’ve discovered some equally delicious and far more nutritious alternatives to the tortilla or taco shell. Try any of these ideas as your “taco base”:
Romaine or Iceburg Lettuce
Red or Green Shredded Cabbage
Soaked, Sprouted, and Cooked Quinoa
You can’t rightly have taco night without any meat now, can you? One of the fun things about this meal is that you truly can improvise and it will still taste delicious. I get the best results using lean ground beef, but you can also use ground turkey, ground bison, or ground chicken. If you’re a fan of heat, kick it up a notch and use equal parts of spicy ground pork sausage and ground beef. I have a never fail homemade taco seasoning that I usually make ahead of time and keep in my spice cabinet. Having the seasoning pre-made is definitely a time saver. Here’s my basic taco seasoning recipe:
1 tbsp chili powder
¼ tsp onion powder
¼ tsp garlic powder
¼ tsp red pepper flakes
¼ tsp oregano
½ tsp paprika
1 ½ tsp cumin
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp black pepper
Brown 1 lb. ground meat and drain off fat, if necessary. Mix 2 tbsp. of the seasoning mix with 1 ½ cups of water and pour over the ground meat. Simmer, covered, for 10-15 minutes. If the seasoning mix is too spicy, omit the red pepper flakes. If you have any leftover, the seasoned ground meat makes a delicious breakfast the next morning. Poach or fry a couple of eggs and serve on top of the ground meat.
I like to include as many veggies as possible in my meals, and taco night is no exception. Of course for the tastiest tacos, homemade guacamole or sliced avocado is mandatory, along with some diced tomatoes and chopped fresh cilantro. Time permitting, I also like to do a fajita type thing and sauté a couple bell peppers, an onion, and a few garlic cloves together and then add to the seasoned meat.
For those of you still eating dairy, adding a bit of cheese or sour cream to the top of your taco is really like putting the icing on the cake (bad analogy for a paleo blog, I know!). Since we don’t usually have sour cream at our house, sometimes I’ll use full fat plain yogurt which adds the texture I like but is lacking a bit in richness. As for the cheese, I know a lot of people like it until it’s bubbling, but I will mention that cheese is much easier to digest when not melted. However, I don’t think a little melted cheese every now and then ever killed anyone :).
So that’s my taco night. You can get as crazy you want with the add-ons or just keep it simple by browning some ground meat with seasoning and throwing it over a few fresh lettuce leaves. Voila. You’ve got your fat, protein, and veggies. Maybe not the most nutrient dense meal you've ever had, but it's easy, it satisfies, and it makes some delicious leftovers for breakfast the next morning!
When I was a kid I loved taco night. It was awesome. All that yummy seasoned meat, cheese, and veggies was so fun to assemble on my plate. My mom always set it up like a taco bar, so we could pick and choose what we wanted to have on our plates. Dave and I do our taco night the exact same way, but with a few menu variations.
At first we felt more than a little lost without that humongous, white tortilla to wrap everything up in. I think Dave actually got a little teary-eyed when I told him I would no longer be cooking with tortillas. But after some contemplation, we’ve discovered some equally delicious and far more nutritious alternatives to the tortilla or taco shell. Try any of these ideas as your “taco base”:
Romaine or Iceburg Lettuce
Red or Green Shredded Cabbage
Soaked, Sprouted, and Cooked Quinoa
You can’t rightly have taco night without any meat now, can you? One of the fun things about this meal is that you truly can improvise and it will still taste delicious. I get the best results using lean ground beef, but you can also use ground turkey, ground bison, or ground chicken. If you’re a fan of heat, kick it up a notch and use equal parts of spicy ground pork sausage and ground beef. I have a never fail homemade taco seasoning that I usually make ahead of time and keep in my spice cabinet. Having the seasoning pre-made is definitely a time saver. Here’s my basic taco seasoning recipe:
1 tbsp chili powder
¼ tsp onion powder
¼ tsp garlic powder
¼ tsp red pepper flakes
¼ tsp oregano
½ tsp paprika
1 ½ tsp cumin
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp black pepper
Brown 1 lb. ground meat and drain off fat, if necessary. Mix 2 tbsp. of the seasoning mix with 1 ½ cups of water and pour over the ground meat. Simmer, covered, for 10-15 minutes. If the seasoning mix is too spicy, omit the red pepper flakes. If you have any leftover, the seasoned ground meat makes a delicious breakfast the next morning. Poach or fry a couple of eggs and serve on top of the ground meat.
I like to include as many veggies as possible in my meals, and taco night is no exception. Of course for the tastiest tacos, homemade guacamole or sliced avocado is mandatory, along with some diced tomatoes and chopped fresh cilantro. Time permitting, I also like to do a fajita type thing and sauté a couple bell peppers, an onion, and a few garlic cloves together and then add to the seasoned meat.
For those of you still eating dairy, adding a bit of cheese or sour cream to the top of your taco is really like putting the icing on the cake (bad analogy for a paleo blog, I know!). Since we don’t usually have sour cream at our house, sometimes I’ll use full fat plain yogurt which adds the texture I like but is lacking a bit in richness. As for the cheese, I know a lot of people like it until it’s bubbling, but I will mention that cheese is much easier to digest when not melted. However, I don’t think a little melted cheese every now and then ever killed anyone :).
So that’s my taco night. You can get as crazy you want with the add-ons or just keep it simple by browning some ground meat with seasoning and throwing it over a few fresh lettuce leaves. Voila. You’ve got your fat, protein, and veggies. Maybe not the most nutrient dense meal you've ever had, but it's easy, it satisfies, and it makes some delicious leftovers for breakfast the next morning!
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