Herbed Pork Roast

I never, ever thought I'd like pork. I will eat bacon, but actual pork? Nope! Too dry, too tough, etc. This recipe totally changed my mind. I threw it in the crock pot for about 6 hours. The meat was at 145 when I pulled it. The au jus it makes is outstanding. I can see making this one again.

Herbed Pork Roast

•4 large garlic cloves, quartered
•1 pork loin roast, boneless, about 4 to 5 pounds
•1 teaspoon salt
•1 scant teaspoon dried leaf thyme
•1/2 teaspoon dried leaf sage, crumbled
•1/4 teaspoon dried leaf rosemary, crumbled
•1/4 teaspoon dried tarragon, crumbled, optional
•dash ground cloves or allspice (I actually used ginger instead)
•1 teaspoon grated lemon peel, optional
•1/3 cup water ( I had chicken broth so that went in instead)
•3 tablespoons cornstarch, optional
•3 tablespoons water, optional
Preparation:
Cut 16 small pockets into roast and insert garlic slices. In a small bowl combine salt, herbs, and lemon peel. Rub seasoning mixture into the roast. Pour 1/2 cup water into slow cooker; add the roast. Cover and cook on LOW for 6 to 8 hours or until pork roast should read at least 145° on an instant-read thermometer.
Serves 8.

The Great Paleo Experiment - Day 3

I'm definitely noticing some differences already. My pain levels are down, and the inflammation seems to have gone down some. It is definitely taking some getting used to, not eating as much fruit. I do need to tweak my veggie intake a little more, but so far it's going. The headaches are going down some as well. Now here's hoping the sugar jones will go away.

I'm already starting to think about Thanksgiving and what I'll be doing for that.We get a fresh farm raised turkey every year, and I'll be throttled if roasted potatoes don't make it to the table. But beyond that... I might make up some of the stuffing I used to make when I first went GF. That stuff was excellent. I'll try to post the recipe for that on here. I'm also thinking of making some of the Everyday Paleo Roasted Root veg ahead of time for me, then make some roasted carrots for everyone else. (I'm the only one that likes parsnips and beets). Green beans I can take or leave, it was never that big of a deal for me. I also saw a recipe on Everyday Paleo for brussel sprouts with bacon. That may need to be tested out to see if it's worthy of Thanksgiving. Dessert? I was never a pie person, even pre GF days, so it will probably be a GF trifle for the guests and then a nice chocolate coconut avocado mousse for me. :D

The Great Paleo Experiment. Day 1

I've finally decided to break down and try the Paleo diet for 30 days. I've been gluten free for ages, and that helped my health for the longest time, but in the last year or so something else is going on. I've been diagnosed with Fibromyalgia because they can't find anything wrong with me. It's been an ongoing pain battle, but here lately the pain and inflammation are out of control. I decided I needed to try *something* at this point. So starting out here's the list of issues:
- insomnia
- exhaustion
- high levels of pain (6 or above)
- severe depression
- constant sweet craving (to try to counter the above.)
- mental exhaustion

I've tried being vegan for a while and it made things worse. I ended up anemic which I am still battling. I added dairy back in and it seemed to have increased the inflammation. So... here we are. :) Technically I started paleo yesterday but slipped up and feel even worse today so I'm counting today as the start.

This week's menu

roast chicken (broke out the rotisserie)
herbed pork loin in au jus (crockpot meal - I've been having a love affair with it lately)
pot roast with sweet potatoes and carrots (also from the crock pot)
grilled salmon with cauliflower "rice" and steamed veggies (asparagus or broccoli)
grilled tilapia with the "rice" and veggies
chicken stew (to use up some of the roast chicken)

Breakfast will probably be things like I had this morning 4oz roast chicken and a 1/4 avocado. Not sure about snacks yet, that's probably when the fruit will make an appearance.

I'll post in here recipes that I find/try, but also will have posts that talk about how the experiment is going. I'll label the recipe ones so you can just skip to them.

Watermelon Strawberry Soup

Ah spring!! The weather is getting warm, the days are getting longer. I love this time of the year. I came up with this because I had some fruit left over and needed to do something with it.

Watermelon Strawberry Soup
4 cups seed watermelon
2 ripe banansa, peeled
1 cup apple cider or juice
1 cup potato milk, thickened (optional)
½ teaspoon cinnamon
2 ice cubes
2 cups sliced fresh strawberries
¼ cup cold mint tea
fresh mint sprigs
In blender, puree melon, bananas, cider, yoghurt, cinnamon and ice cubes
til smooth. Pour into a pitcher or a bowl, add sliced berries and mint tea.
Chill 1 hour. serve with mint sprigs.

Been a while

I've been so busy I've all but forgotten about this blog. :)

I will be posting some new stuff here shortly. I'm trying a new food system where I make up a menu style list and pick my weekly meals from it. I found the idea here http://thelittlebig.wordpress.com/2010/04/29/life-list-create-a-working-menu/ and thought it was an awesome idea. I'll post it up once I get something going.

New home

If you're reading this, chances are high you just got a ton of old entries in your RSS reader!

We just moved homes from a hosted account into a Blogspot account - but the domain name still works just fine.

Welcome - we plan on posting more awesome recipes soon!

Gluten Free (Vegan) Pumpkin Spice Muffins

Gluten Free (Vegan) Pumpkin Spice Muffins

    2 Tbsp ground flax seed

    6 Tbsp water

    1 tsp Vanilla Extract


    1/2 cup Vermont Sugar Free Maple Flavored Syrup (can use brown rice syrup, treacle, corn syrup or regular maple syrup)

    1/4 cup Canola Oil

    1/4 cup Applesauce, unsweetened

    1- 15 oz can Pumpkin Puree

    2 cups Gluten Free All Purpose Baking Flour


    2 tsp Xanthan Gum

    1 tsp Baking Powder

    1 tsp Baking Soda

    1 tsp Cinnamon

    1/2 tsp Allspice, ground


    1/2 tsp Cloves, ground

    1/4 tsp Ginger, ground

    1/4 cup powdered sugar + 1 Tbsp water (optional)

    3/4 cup dried cranberries (optional)

    1/2 cup Walnuts (optional)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 F. Generously grease or line muffin cups with paper liners and spray with cooking spray. Set aside. Beat Eggs, vanilla, honey, oil, applesauce and pumpkin together until well combined. Set aside. Mix all dry ingredients together. Then, stir in egg mixture; add raisins and nuts. Mix just until blended. Fill muffin cups 2/3 full. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes. Combine the powdered sugar and water to glaze if desired.

These can be slimmed down even more by increasing the applesauce by 2 Tbsp and reducing the oil by 2 Tbsp.

Makes 12 muffins.

If fruit or nuts are added, recipe will make 24 muffins.

Number of Servings: 12

Nutritional Info

  * Servings Per Recipe: 12

  * Amount Per Serving

  * Calories: 143.2

  * Total Fat: 5.7 g


  * Cholesterol: 0.0 mg

  * Sodium: 170.6 mg

  * Total Carbs: 22.9 g

  * Dietary Fiber: 3.7 g

  * Protein: 2.6 g

3pts for those of you who do WW.