A Very Un-Paleo Thanksgiving

One day, stuck in traffic, I became obsessed with knowing what percentage of the time I follow my dino-chow diet. I'm seriously math-impaired, but Dave was there to help, and we came to the conclusion that I follow my plan about 97% of the time.

Since July, I've had two 4-week periods when I went completely no-cheat, and when I'm not doing that, I generally eat, like, one corn tortilla on Saturday morning and maybe have a glass of wine on a Saturday night (discounting the once-a-year tipsy Karaoke Apocalypse gig).

So I didn't hesitate AT ALL when making the decision about whether or not to indulge on Thanksgiving. It's my favorite holiday, and I keep myself on a short lease 97% of the time, so I can let the food beast on Turkey Day. I also do all of the cooking in our house – ALL of it – so tomorrow will be a super treat for me: delicious food cooked by someone else with no clean up.

I've already looked at the menu and decided which foods are worth the indulgence: andouille jalapeno cornbread dressing is on my 'yes' list, along with paté, beet and duck confit salad, and sweet potato and pecan brulée. I think the cheese plate is a 'no go' for me. I'm a brave, strong girl, but I'm not too proud to admit that after almost six months dairy free, cheese scares me.

This year's Thanksgiving celebration would be incomplete without the aforementioned bacon bourbon brownies, which I intend to enjoy immediately upon waking from my post-Thanksgiving dinner nap.

Luckily, there are others out there who are flying their Paleo flag high tomorrow. Here are some links for you, to help balance the bacon bourbon brownie recipe and photos I'll be sharing over the next few days. (And should my indulgence in delicious poison leave me in a blubbering heap of misery, I'll be sure to share that, too, as a cautionary tale.)

The Label Says Paleo
Check out this group of Austin-based CrossFitters that are in the midst of a 30-day no-cheat Paleo experiment. There's plenty of good advice, recipes, and confessions. Word on the street is that this weekend, they'll be sharing tales of their paleo Thanksgiving feast.

Jen Cardella: How to Fool a Family
Jen is a CrossFit Central coach and she shares recipes you can steal and use on your own family to trick them into eating healthy Thanksgiving treats.

Elana's Pantry
The gluten-free maven shares her favorite 2009 Thanksgiving recipes.

And finally, a silly distraction, should you need something to take your mind off food:

Mental Floss: Turkey Day on the Tube Quiz
How much do you know about the terribly awesome (awesomely terrible?) TV specials of yore? I got only five out of 11 correct, scoring a pathetic 45%.

Gobble, gobble, y'all!

Celebrate Thanksgiving with Turkey and Voting!

The headline reads "Delay Thanksgiving Dinners to See Suffragette" and in 1909, that's what a slew of women in Chicago did. They made the turkey and family wait while they went to see Emiline Pankhurst, the "world-famed leader of the English suffragettes."

These sketches represent Chicago Suffragettes who were all set to meet "Mrs. Pankhurst" )as she was referenced in the press) to hear her "militant methods." Shocking!

Also disconcerting: "More than a score of Thanksgiving dinners have been postponed from 1 o'clock to 6 o'clock as a consequence..."

Waiting five extra hours for your turkey: unthinkable!

On top of the many things for which I'm grateful (an itty-bitty sampling of which includes my husband, my family, Sunbutter, my CrossFit friends, black boots, Barack Obama, cumin, Chuck Taylor's, Social Distortion, and Paris), I must add the women who weathered external scorn – and surely their own internal monologues – about ditching on their womanly duties to work for a woman's right to vote.

Click over to Sociological Images to read more of the original Los Angeles Times article.

The Sniffle Hit Parade Continues

I am feeling resentful! I thought my dino-chow and 9-hours-a-night sleep habit were going to ensure I didn't get sick this year.

Harumph!

My head has been filled with goo for a week now, and this morning, I dragged my sorry ass out of bed for CrossFit Women because I just couldn't bear to not workout again. I had a really hard time falling asleep last night – I'm just not appropriately tired when I don't get to do my training.

I was excited about this morning's workout because it was a nice combo of running and throwing around heavy things. My expectations were way, WAY better than my performance.

2 rounds for time:
800m run
15 DB deadlift, 45# DBs
400m run
15 DB push press, 25# DBs

I teamed up Erin and felt great for the first, maybe, 200m of the run. Then the wheezing started. I pep-talked myself the whole time: "Easy. Turn over your feet. Breathe... you can pass her. Stay on your pace. Move your feet."

When we got back from our 800m jaunt, Crystal yelled, "3:43" which is probably the fastest I've ever covered 800m. I felt pretty good about that and hit the first set of deadlifts... not too shabby. The 400m run was agony. The outbound 200m, I was huffing like a freakin' freight train, and on the return 200m, I realized I had to go to the bathroom. Badly.

My body was, like, "Whoa! Hey! Awesome! We're moving again." so I had a pit stop in the MIDDLE OF THE WOD. Who does that?!

My bathroom time kinda killed my spirit, so my first set of push press were lackluster, and I decided to scale back the remaining two runs to 400m each.

Fail.

I finished in, like, 18:something.

We ended the workout with alternating sets of knees-to-elbows (which I HATE) and T-rotation pushups (which I LOVE). Felt great to get my chest to the deck again. Oh! And the forced rest has finally given my shoulder a chance to heal, so there's a silver lining. The crowd goes... meh.

Overall: I'm pleased with the weights. Disappointed about the run. Glad I went to workout. Predict tomorrow will be another rest day. Eager to eat bacon bourbon brownies.

Is it Thanksgiving yet?!

Holiday Meal Family Tension

Thanksgiving has long been my favorite holiday, and generally speaking, our family dinners were loving and fun. Everyone in my family loves to cook, so most of the day was spent in happy chaos, chopping, stirring, taste-testing, and eating eating eating. Together, we perfected a fried sweet potato wonton recipe (with spicy peanut sauce for dipping)... my mom makes the most decadent, creamy, crispy-topped green bean casserole and the butteriest bread stuffing on the planet... and my dad always carves the turkey so everyone gets their favorite parts. I won't be partaking in my family's cooking this year, but the warm fuzzies are right here, centrally-located in my solar plexus.

One of my favorite movies is Home for the Holidays. Its Thanksgiving escapades are heart-warming, horrifying, and hilarious in that heart-warming, horrifying way. In the end, everyone knows it's all about the love, but there are some tough moments that only families can produce.


Just in case you're about to enter a button-pushing, family environment, this Well post at The New York Times site offers some good advice to help you survive all the way through dessert without having a meltdown, along with some stories that might make you feel better about your family's interactions.

Eat Your Vegetables: Butternut Squash

The bad news for me: Today is day six (6!!!) of forced rest days, thanks to the congestion in my head and the razorblades in my throat. Also, it's Part II of "Mel makes the rounds of all her doctors to make sure everything is working properly now that she's over 40 and only has half a thyroid"... which means full exam and blood work at my GP and later, for fun, a mammogram.

The good news for you: You get a rest day recipe, and it's a yummy one for Thanksgiving week.
I've tested and discarded several winter squash recipes this season: a pumpkin soup that was too bland and watery, an acorn squash I couldn't adapt to remove the offending brown sugar and honey... but the recipe below is a mash-up of the technique from one recipe and the spice blend from another. It's creamy, spicy, rich, and can stand proud on a table as a replacement for bland, starchy mashed potatoes. It's also very versatile; don't miss my bonus ideas at the end!
The special ingredient that makes this recipe sing is Ras el Hanout, a spice blend from the Middle East and North Africa. Spice market vendors all claim their version to be the best, so express your creativity and feel free to play around with the proportions below if you favor one spice more than another. I might have been a little heavy-handed with the cumin in mine (with excellent results.) And don't be put off by the long-ish list of ingredients; some recipes include more than 100 spices! (Also of note, some people consider Ras el Hanout to be an aphrodisiac. You be the judge.)

Mashed Butternut Squash with Roasted Garlic & Ras el Hanout

Ingredients for Ras el Hanout:
2 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons cumin
2 teaspoons ginger
2 teaspoons black pepper
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon coriander
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon allspice
1/2 teaspoon cloves
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
optional: 1 teaspoon saffron threads

Ingredients for butternut squash puree:
2 1/2 pounds winter squash (kabocha, butternut, acorn, pumpkin)
1/2 teaspoon olive oil
1 head garlic
1 tablespoon coconut oil
2 tablespoons coconut milk
3/4 teaspoon salt

Directions:
1. Blend all the Ras en Hanout spices in a small bowl and set aside.

2. Preheat the oven to 350F. Cut the squash in half and scoop out the seeds. Brush lightly with olive oil and place cut-side-down on a baking pan. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons of water onto the pan.

3. Peel the loose, papery skin off the garlic, keeping the head intact, and wrap it in a sheet of foil. Put the baking sheet and the foil packet in the oven. Bake 40 to 50 minutes, until the squash is tender. Set aside until both are cool enough to handle... maybe about 20 minutes or so.

4. With a spoon, scoop the now-soft squash into the bowl of a food processor. Separate the garlic cloves and squeeze the roasted pulp into bowl with the squash. (Be prepared to say "ew!" because the roasted garlic expulsion process is... squirty). Process the mixture to a smooth puree, then add the coconut oil and coconut milk.

5. Turn the puree out into a mixing bowl and add salt and the Ras el Hanout, to taste. I used about 1 1/2 teaspoons of the Ras el Hanout to start, then kept adding a little at a time 'til I was happy with it.

Serving ideas:

1. Eat it just like that. It's delicious. Serve alongside roasted turkey, lamb kabobs, or grilled chicken thighs. It's also a tasty bed for sauteed ground beef or lamb or sliced, smoked sausage, especially with some hearty winter greens (kale, mustard greens) on the side.

2. Make a casserole. Grease the inside of either individual ramekins or a casserole dish with a little coconut oil, then add the squash puree. Top with chopped pecans and bake in the same 350F oven for 15 minutes or so.
3. Make soup. Add heated chicken or vegetable broth to the squash puree and stir until desired consistency. Sprinkle the top with chopped cilantro or parsley and a squeeze of fresh lemon or lime juice. Bonus if you also stir in a tablespoon or so of coconut milk. Double bonus if you add shredded cooked chicken and make it a meal.

Bonus recipe: I haven't tried this one yet, and I usually don't like to recommend recipes if I haven't given them a test run. BUT, the recipes on Kalyn's Kitchen are usually very good, and this roasted, Moroccan-spiced butternut squash looks like a good alternative if puree isn't your thing.

This is Why I CrossFit and Eat Dino-Chow

Or, more accurately, one of the reasons I CrossFit and eat dino-chow.

There's not much as fun as Karaoke Apocalypse. Or being on stage. Or dancing around like an idiot. And the song "Tom Sawyer" takes me straight back to my 14-year-old roller skating days at the Roller Roost II in Pottsville, Pennsylvania.



Note: There's a reason for the ponytails and bandanna. It was Friday the 13th, and we dressed like Jason and counselors at the Camp Crystal Lake summer camp.

These Are a Few of My Favorite Things: Coconut Oil

I am sometimes a knucklehead.

All over the dino-chow-sphere, my fellow foodies have included coconut oil in their recipes. For no particular reason except the aforementioned knuckleheadedness, I've usually replaced coconut oil with olive oil in my recipes.

A week or so ago, Moxy-Boss recommended I try it, just to change things up a bit and to add more saturated fat to my diet.

I bought this:
My life has changed in delicious ways I can barely describe.

I know my taste buds have mutated over the years... first, because I ate a steady stream of almost no-fat food and now, because of my dino-chow habit. But I'll be damned if refined coconut oil doesn't taste like butter to me. BUTTER, people.

It. is. delicious.

In case you're on the runaway "saturated fat is bad" train, take a gander at this quote from a pretty awesome entry on the Fat Head blog:

Far from being a heart-stopper, [coconut oil] been spotted in public fighting viruses, promoting healthy thyroid function, assisting in weight loss by boosting metabolisms, and protecting against cancer. Those are hardly the actions of an aspiring bogie-man.

Need more? Here's Mark Sisson on saturated fat, Robb Wolf on fat and insulin resistance, and Tim Ferris with seven reasons to eat more saturated fat. I was ready to do it just because Moxy-Boss said I should, but these blog posts definitely made me feel even more comfortable with the idea.

In case you're curious about how coconut oil stacks up nutrition-wise, here's the label from my Spectrum Organics Refined Coconut Oil:


When I went shopping for coco oil, I just grabbed a jar that said "organic" at our local hippy/punk rock foodie store. When I got home, I did a little research into the refined versus unrefined question.

Unrefined oils are left in their virgin state after pressing, so the natural flavor is more robust... unrefined olive oil tastes more olive-y and unrefined coconut oil tastes more like coconut. Unrefined oils also have a lower smoking point which means you need to use lower heat when cooking with them.

I think y'all know my preferred saute method: crank the heat to high and fry.

I made the right choice with the refined version because I can use medium to high heat, and the Spectrum Organics brand is refined naturally, without chemicals or additives.

I'm alternating my fat sources now: lunch is olive oil; dinner is coconut oil. Cooking in coconut oil has made all of my old favorites taste even better than usual. Cabbage or broccoli sautéed in coconut oil is sublime. Last night, I spread some on my pumpkin almond butter pancakes before drizzling with the tiniest 1/2 teaspoon of maple syrup. And this morning, I pan-fried a cup of roasted spaghetti squash with garlic powder, salt, and coco oil, and my eyes rolled back in my head like a shark while I ate it.

Plus, here's my guilty secret: on days when I'm a little low on fat – like, if I skip a snack or something – I've been mixing a teaspoon of coconut oil into a tablespoon of Sunbutter.

Redonk.

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I'm excited to once again join the punk rock foodies on Fight Back Friday at Food Renegade.