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A heart’s infinite ability

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As you know, I have been very reflective of my relationships of late. People to draw toward, to draw away from, to learn how to still love and hold dear friendships that may not always meet my expectations, to have more respect for the time I invest, both in others and myself (I can very easily make plans all the nights with all the people and neglect my relationship with ME).

This has been, thus far, one of the best years of my life. I have celebrated milestone birthdays in Vegas; I have wine tasted in Northern California with friends are the kind of friends that are just…. home to my heart; I have driven to Western Puget Sound to spend time with my weight loss family; I spent a week in Boston with someone who thinks so much like me, we often say what the other is thinking, a woman I just adore beyond measure; I reconnected with an old friend who now lives in Hull, MA; I have traveled to celebrate one of my dearest friends’ birthday in full St. Patrick’s Day style, laughing so so hard and officially earning a new nickname within the group; I have had good conversations with a few ex boyfriends/ ex lovers/ ex  whatevers; I have spent quality time with my brother, who is my absolute favorite person in the world; and I have watched my grandmother, who is in her 80’s, take our entire family down in Cards Against Humanity. I am experiencing live as a wife … who has a husband. That is weird. And amazing. And … it’s just become this quiet depth I cannot put words to. It’s been so so much good. I have eaten fine food and drunk fine wines and I’ve just had SO MUCH LOVE and joy.

The more I make space for myself, and my marriage, and for listening to myself in regards to other relationships with friends and family, the more I feel my heart expanding. The more I feel my soul take deep, satisfying sighs that are both silent and loud all at the same time. I feel a sense of peace I haven’t felt in a long time.

I spent a day and night with a friend I’ve known 16 years, but haven’t seen in about 9 (I’d guess). It was like not a day had passed other than… we’ve lived a lot of life in those 9 years and had much to catch up on. But the spark that has always drawn me to her is still there, is still burning bright. This woman… she is gold. Pure gold. And when she left this morning, my chest actually hurt. I drove to an appointment with my hand over my chest, just… feeling my heart beat, aching. And it wasn’t sadness or loss, it was simply just bursting with happiness and love. And although, rationally, we all know this, it was one of those strong emotional “ah-ha” moments of the truly infinite nature of one’s heart. How blessed I am to be able to so fully and genuinely love so many different kinds of people in so many different kinds of ways.  How  GRATEFUL I am, also, to feel so much love from others.

I am simply fulfilled in the most delightful ways. And I needed to express my gratitude for that… to you, to myself, to the universe.

How 2017 will be different

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I’m a big fan of New Year’s resolutions. I generally work really hard to meet the goals I set for myself each year and some years I set a lot and some years I set a few and some years I kick ass and some years not so much. I feel accomplished when my goal is achieved but I don’t let it get me too down when a goal is not achieved, but rather, I use that as more information on how I can improve the next time I try.

I have been thinking about 2016 coming to a close and 2017 as a clean slate ahead and all that comes to mind is how I want 2017 to be different. Not clear “resolutions” like I typically do, but general themes in which I want to see some shifting, some easing in, some thoughtful purpose towards.

So what does that mean? Let me share….

2017 is the year I will lose the regain I’ve had in the last 18 months. I know that sounds very typical of a standard New Year Resolution “I want to lose X pounds” and I don’t suppose it really is any different. For me, though, I really am going to have to fake it until I make it. I need a complete diet overhaul. I am committing to a full ketogenic diet for the first 5.5 weeks of the new year. That will be enough time to see how I feel eating in such a way and see if I  have any positive side effects such as weight loss, reduction in cravings, more energy, etc. While losing the weight I’ve put on is VERY important to me, feeling great and being healthy is my primary motivator. As always, an attempt more to change my relationship with food than anything else. Why only 5.5 weeks you ask? My husband and I are being gifted a wine tasting trip to Santa Rosa, CA and while I don’t intend to just jump into baguettes and ice cream, I do expect I’ll taste some wine. Then I can come home, reassess and either continue on, or find another plan.

2017 is the year I incorporate yoga and/or Pilates in to my workout routine. I’ve had this one before and yoga is difficult for me, but I know my body needs it. I am very good at weight lifting. I am begrudging at cardio. And I feel like I need to find a balance between lifting, cardiovascular exercise and stretching. I have already scheduled my first Pilates class for January 3rd. 🙂

2017 is the year when I will try harder to nurture the friendships who care to nurture my friendship in return. I am a really good and loyal friend and I deserve friends who are responsive; who make me a priority; who make me feel valued and important. Two way streets are my goal. Which also means spending more time and energy on those friendships I recognize as maybe I haven’t been as equal in giving myself to as I should. I will be the friend I expect someone else to be… and if someone can’t meet me in the middle, I will recognize that and let it lie where it is.

2017 is the year I change my relationship with alcohol. More breaks, less excess, more appreciation, less recklessness. That’s all I need to say about that right now, but it is in the forefront of my mind as something I need to do for myself. I don’t always believe this, but I think, deep down, I know I’m a worthwhile and fun person, even if I go to social events and only have club soda. It has been known to happen.

2017 as a whole may end up looking very different than we’re used to on a national level, but for me, in my world, I’m going to work on the things I do have control over. On things I can do better at. On ways in which I can make my life, and the lives of those nearest to me, happier and more fulfilled. These are the ways 2017 is going to look different for me. I will walk into the year expecting all of these things to be true and will work hard on a physical, emotional, spiritual level, to remain consistent in what I want to see and how I want to feel next year.

How do you want your 2017 to be different?

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Turkey Stock!

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I seem to be able to connive my family out of the turkey carcass every year. I break it into two large hunks and make two big batches, combine the broth together, then cook it and freeze it to use throughout the year. It’s SO YUMMY and a great way to recycle and use all the leftover turkey parts!

Ingredients for EACH crockpot batch

  • 1/2 turkey carcass
  • 2 medium yellow onions, coarsely chopped (large pieces)
  • 7 organic carrots, diced
  • 1 small bunch of organic celery, diced
  • 1/2 turnip, diced
  • 1 parsnip, diced
  • 1/2 bunch of organic parsley
  • 3 sprigs of fresh rosemary (optional)
  •  5 leaves of fresh sage (optional)
  • 2 bay leaves

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INSTRUCTIONS

  1. Throw it all in a large crockpot, fill with water and cook on low for 8-10 hours. (having done this twice, I recommend putting the carcass in first, then the veggies so the bones are fully submerged).
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    Before shot of batch #2

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    After shot of batch #1

  2.  

    Once the time is up, set up a fine mesh colander and ladle the soup, carcass and veggies into the strainer, emptying into the garbage every few minutes as it gets full, ensuring it’s drained well each time.  20161127_092956_resized

  3. If you are doing two batches, like I needed to do b/c my turkey carcass was THAT big, combine all the soup together and fully cool overnight.
  4. I measure the soup into 1.5 to 3.5 cup jar serving sizes, label and freeze, so I know exactly how much is in there when I need it for a recipe. Be sure to leave a little room in the jars for the broth to expand in the freezer, which it will. Even with cooled soup, never fill a jar of liquid to the top and then freeze it… it will expand and you’ll have a very frozen, very broken jar of soup on your hands (can you tell I’ve done that a time or two?)

I use this stock throughout the year and it really does make the BEST soups. I had a ham hock on hand and made a Ham Hock Vegetable Soup using the fresh broth and it was DIVINE! If you also have a ham hock on hand, get to stocking your freezer for deliciousness!

Whole30 Essentials

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Monday starts my attempt to keep my regain in check over the holidays and set myself up for getting the regain off in 2017. I’ve done the Whole30 a few times and I have a few essentials I recommend to start off right.

It’s so hard to give up sugar, but to give up sugar, dairy, butter, etc. etc. is super hard. So in the days before and the first few days after starting Whole30 is getting a few basics in the kitchen to make planning and following the program easier. When I’m prepared, it makes it easy for me to succeed.

So here are few things and recipes I recommend.

I can’t live without my chicken salad and the thing that makes my chicken salad as magical it is, is the homemade mayonnaise. Recipe is found here.

It’s hard to live a life without butter, ketchup and salad dressing. Luckily, you can make ghee easily from butter and sugar free ketchup and dressing options. I plan on making ghee tomorrow using this recipe here. This is a great and easy way to make ketchup and have it on hand.

Beasty BBQ sauce is fun to play with and Sunshine Sauce is the bomb.com and amazing as a dip or even on hot vegetables and this sausage gravy is literally the most amazing thing to eat/ use/eat copiously.

These two salad dressing are my favorites and I take them with me when I eat out during the Whole30.

Pine Nut, Basil and Balsamic Dressing

ingredients: 1 garlic cloves, peeled and bashed to a pulp; 1 good handful of fresh basil, bashed to a pulp; 1 small handful of toasted pine nuts, bashed to bits; 6 Tbl olive oil; 3 Tbl balsamic vinegar; seat salt and freshly ground pepper.

Magic bullet / blend all ingredients. Add more oil if you need more moisture.

Cilantro-Lime Vinaigrette

Ingredients: 1 cup packed cilantro; 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil; 1/4 cup lime juice; 1/4 orange juice; 1/2 tsp salt; 1/2 tsp pepper; pinch of minced garlic

Directions: Magic bullet / blend all ingredients until processed.

Here are some recipes I’ve tried lately that are a great place to start.

Roasted Lemon Chicken (low carb)

Kielbasa, Bacon & Cabbage soup

Sausage and Veggie Skillet

And try these for a great snack or to add to a scramble!

Apple Sage Sausage Patties

Ingredients:

  1. 1 medium honeycrisp apple peeled and shredded
  2. 1 lb ground pork
  3. 1 Tbl fresh sage, finely minced
  4. 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
  5. Coconut oil for cooking

Directions:

  • Have your ingredients all in one place. Once you do, heat up a large pan over medium heat. Add 2Tbl coconut oil
  • In a medium bowl, combine ground pork, shredded apple, sage, salt & pepper, by gently combining it with your hands. Now, take silver dollar portions (about 3 Tbl) of sausage mixture and gently form it into a patty. Place it in the hot pan and continue until all of the sausage has been formed into patties.
  • Cook for 3-4 minutes on the first side. Test by seeing that there are those wonderful browned marks. Flip it over and cook for an additional four minutes. you can test the inside to ensure no pink remains. I so, cook for an additional minute.

 

If you’re battling the holidays with me, let me know how you like the recipes and what your favorite go to recipes are. Happy dining!! ❤

 

 

 

Taco Salad

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Since we already have some ingredients ready from making breakfast burritos, let’s put that to use for a lunch/dinner! I took those onions/peppers that we used for yesterday’s breakfast and made an amazing taco salad for dinner. This is what I used for ONE serving. Stats are below for this meal

INGREDIENTS:
3 oz browned turkey meat, cooked with 1 packet of taco meat (follow the instructions on the packet)
1/4 cup leftover onion/pepper mixture
1/4 cup leftover beans from breakfast burritos
7 blue corn organic tortilla chips
1/3 cup low fat cheddar cheese
1/2 tomato, chopped
2 Tbl avocado
1/2 – 1 cup shredded lettuce
2 Tbl low fat sour cream OR yogurt ranch dressing
chopped cilantro, add to taste

INSTRUCTIONS:

  1. Microwave your onions/peppers & bean mixture for 45 seconds or so
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  2. Add 3 oz of taco meat
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  3. Add cheese, tomato, avocado, tortilla chips, lettuce, cilantro & dressing.
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  4. Toss to mix and ENJOY!  Easy Peasy!

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    STATS for this meal using ranch yogurt dressing:
    450 calories, 27g carbs, 24g fat, 30g protein

DIY Paleo Mayonnaise

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I get asked all the time for my Paleo mayonnaise recipe and I’ve made a video on it (which you can watch here) but it’s been a while. This is the key ingredient to why my chicken salad is so amazing and ALL my other salads (aka tuna salad, egg salad, etc. etc.) So here you go!

INGREDIENTS
2 eggs, room temperature (very important, I leave mine out overnight)
2 cups extra light tasting olive oil (also very important, regular olive oil will taste VERY olive-oily
2 Tbl Braggs Apple Cider Vinegar
1 tsp yellow mustard
2 pinches of: Salt, pepper, paprika
Generous sprinkle of garlic powder

TOOLS NEEDED:
A food processor *
spatula
glass jar(s) to store mayo in

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INSTRUCTIONS

  1. In a food processor, combine the 2 eggs, vinegar, mustard and seasonings.
  2. Run processor for about 20 seconds to combine ingredients
  3. Very very slowly (a drizzle the speed just past a drop at a time), add the olive oil to the mixture until it’s fully combined. This should take 10 minutes or so. IF you have a food processor that has an automatic drip cup, you don’t need to do this step, you can just fill the cup with the oil and it will moderate the speed for you. If you are not sure how slow is slow, watch my video to get an idea.

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  4. When oil is fully incorporated, add product to glass jars and keep up to 1-2 weeks.

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* NOTE: If you do not have a food process, you can use a blender and add the oil in through the top. This will not work with a magic bullet.

A few other considerations. I have made this a kazillion times and it took me a few times to figure it out. If you go too fast, it won’t coagulate the way it should. If you go too slow and you have an older blender/processor, you run the risk of it overheating and ruining the whole batch. Just experiment to find that sweet spot OR buy the food processor I have and the darn stuff makes itself!

Chia Seed Crusted Salmon

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Hi all! I experimented last night with a salmon recipe and tweaked it quite a bit and this is what I came up with. Sadly, I neglected to take a picture of this beauty whole before I cut it up and put it in some wild rice/quinoa blend, but trust me, it was beautiful! Happy eating!

Ingredients:
1 tsp chia seeds
1/4 tsp celery powder (not salt)
1/2 tsp lemon zest (or dried lemon rind from Penzeys)
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 tsp oil, such as olive or coconut oil
1 egg white, lightly whisked
4-6 oz salmon fillet

Directions:

  1. Preheat Broiler
  2. In a small bowl, combine chia seeds, celery powder, lemon zest, salt and pepper. Drizzle in oil and stir, set aside.
  3. In a shallow bowl, whisk egg white until frothy. Dip salmon filet in egg white, then transfer filet to an oiled baking sheet. Press seed mixture thickly on top of fillet.
  4. Broil salmon filet about 6″ below broiler for 8 minutes. Transfer file to a serving plate and serve!

I actually cut mine up to bite size pieces and mixed it in with 1/4 cup cooked TruRoots wild rice/quinoa blend that I love to get from Costco. It was a well balanced, heart healthy meal. Next time, I’ll throw in a few pieces of broccoli to round it out even better!

Stats:
Makes 1 serving
Based on 6 oz fillet:

Nutrition Facts
Servings 1.0
Amount Per Serving
calories 329
% Daily Value *
Total Fat 20 g 30 %
Saturated Fat 8 g 40 %
Monounsaturated Fat 0 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 1 g
Trans Fat 0 g
Cholesterol 85 mg 28 %
Sodium 70 mg 3 %
Potassium 637 mg 18 %
Total Carbohydrate 2 g 1 %
Dietary Fiber 2 g 7 %
Sugars 0 g
Protein 36 g 72 %
Vitamin A 2 %
Vitamin C 0 %
Calcium 3 %
Iron 6 %
* The Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet, so your values may change depending on your calorie needs. The values here may not be 100% accurate because the recipes have not been professionally evaluated nor have they been evaluated by the U.S. FDA