Author Archives: jacquie

Happy Father’s Day Y’all

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Sean and I aren’t parents (unless you count owning a stinky dog) but we still love Father’s Day as a good excuse to have a big, delicious dinner. I was born and raised in Buffalo, NY and if you ask me the one thing I miss the most about Buffalo my answer would be: beef on weck. Beef on weck is roast beef on a Kummelweck bun (and a Kummelweck bun is a Kaiser roll dusted with salt and caraway seeds). You know you have a legit beef on weck sandwich in your hand when the beef is rare, carved beautifully thin and you have the juices dripping down your arm. Recently I have been seriously craving a beef on weck. In our pre-paleo days Sean and I made some homemade beef on weck sandwiches and they were delicious. Well, Kummelweck buns sure aren’t paleo so I wanted to create a dish that would mimic the beef on weck but without the bun. Instead of beef on weck, I’m calling this Beef Weck. I hope you try it out and enjoy it. If you’ve never had a beef on weck you’re in for a real treat; there is something amazing about putting beef, salt and caraway seeds together. And if you’ve had beef on weck, I think this is a great healthier substitution; it sure satisfied my craving at least.

Beef Weck Ingredients

Kosher salt

Caraway seeds

Flank Steak

Directions

Pretty simple… I grounded up some caraway seeds and kosher salt with a mortar and pestle. Then we used it as a rub on the flank steak and grilled the steak to a nice rare/medium-rare.

Tips: Sean was concerned the caraway seeds wouldn’t stick (and as a result we woud miss out on the awesome flavor they bring) and he was concerned the salt would dry out the steak. To fix this we made sure to rub the caraway/salt into the steak really well. We also put the rub on right before grilling the steak; that way the salt didn’t have time to soak up the steak’s juices before we grilled it. The steak turned out awesome!

We served the steak with a broccoli salad and au gratin potatoes. Yeah, potatoes aren’t paleo, but we got some potatoes in our CSA box this week and we aren’t going to not eat something from the farm just because it’s not paleo – you can’t deny good, local food. I really do love au gratin potatoes so I decided to make them with some local whole milk and grass fed cheddar & butter.

I made up the broccoli salad in an attempt to mimic the (non-paleo) pasta salad I would usually make with beef on weck.

Broccoli Salad Ingredients

2 small heads of broccoli

hard salami, cut up in small chunks

black olives, sliced

Dressing Ingredients

1/2 cup olive oil

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

1 tsp oregano

1 tsp basil

1 tsp red pepper flakes

2 cloves garlic

sun-dried tomatoes cut into small pieces

Directions

Again, pretty easy… I cut the broccoli up into small pieces and boiled them until cooked. Then I mixed in the black olives and salami. I mixed all the dressing ingredients together and coated the salad with it. Yum!

 

 

Open-Faced Chorizo Breakfast Quesadilla

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Sean and I are attempting to diversify our breakfasts more. Grok wouldn’t have been able to eat eggs and bacon everyday so neither should we. This week I made some Open-Faced Chorizo Breakfast Quesadillas. I made the filling/topping all at once and then reheated it a bit every morning for breakfast. It tastes the best the first day you make it, but it tastes fine reheated as well.

Ingredients (for 6-8 servings)

2 whole sweet potatoes, cooked

2 chorizo links, casings removed

1 yellow onion, chopped

1 large bag of frozen mixed bell peppers

1-2 jalapenos, chopped

grass-fed butter or bacon grease for cooking

1 egg per serving

Directions

Cut up the sweet potatoes into cubes and throw them on a skillet with some butter/grease to get the outsides brown & crispy. When they are done set them aside.

In a skillet cook the chorizo, breaking it up into chunks. When done, add to the sweet potatoes. Cook the onion and jalapenos in the chorizo grease until tender & browned. Then, add to the sweet potato and chorizo mixture.

Cook the peppers in a skillet. When I cook the frozen bagged peppers I don’t put any butter or grease in the pan. I just put it on medium-low until they start to defrost and then the water gives them something to simmer in. When they’re done add them to the filling/topping mix. If there is still a lot of water in the pan, be sure to drain it first.

So that makes the filling/topping; that’s what I would heat up every morning for breakfast. To make the “tortilla” for the topping all I did was cook one scrambled egg in a small non-stick skillet. It can be kinda hard to get one omelet-style egg off a pan, but the key is to add a good amount of butter/grease and to cover the pan while it’s cooking. That way the top of the egg starts to cook so it’s kind of fluffy when you try to flip it/pick it up. If the top of the egg is still wet you’re not going to be able to flip it without breaking it.

Anyways, you cook your egg patty then add your toppings and it’s ready to eat!

 

My “Primal Advice”

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Mark’s Daily Apple recently had a contest; he posted 10 questions and asked readers to send their answers so he could compile everyone’s wisdom and experience in an ebook to help people who are transitioning to a Primal lifestyle. He did this before and apparently had so much successful feedback from it he decided to give it another go. I submitted answers to some of his questions (I’m a sucker for contests) and decided to post my answers to Two Tables. I hope my experiences might help you on your journey, or maybe inspire you to look into a Primal lifestyle.

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  • How do you keep costs down eating Primal?
As a graduate student, this was my biggest concern when Sean and I decided to go Primal. First we got rid of cable. When some people find out we don’t have cable they look at us like we are crazy and say they “would miss blah-blah-blah too much”. To be honest, I don’t miss it. There is always a better way for me to be spending my time than watching TV. Going without cable gives you extra money each month to spend on some good, local food.
Also, local, in-season veggies aren’t expensive. We bought a CSA share for the summer and during the winter we buy most of our produce from the Farmer’s Market. And sometimes (if we don’t think the taste will be compromised) we substitute fresh veggies with frozen ones. We use frozen fruits and greens for making smoothies and use frozen cauliflower to make cauliflower “rice”.
We are also trying to reduce our meat portions at meals. Before going Primal, I would try to make sure my plate consisted of a meat with a side of veggies. Now I’m trying to make that a little less meat and two sides of veggies. In the same fashion we have instituted “Meat-less Mondays” at our house.
We also buy the cheaper cuts of grass-fed beef at our local farm, they just need a little more love (which a crock-pot is really good at providing). Our farm’s grass-fed beef is cheaper than the grass-fed beef you find at Whole Foods, and for certain things like ground beef our local farm’s grass-fed beef price is actually comparable in price to the grocery store’s grain-fed beef.

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  • How often do you snack, and what do you snack on?
Before going Primal I used to snack all the time; I would have a snack between breakfast and lunch, and then 1-2 more snacks between lunch and dinner. When I first switched to Primal I would snack on unsalted raw nuts or dried fruit whenever I wanted. And as time went on I snacked less and less. I don’t snack at all anymore. I’m just not hungry. I guess my Paleo-meals are that much more satisfying :-)

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  • What is the biggest change you’ve seen in your life since going Primal, and how long did it take to notice?
After a few days since going Primal I found that I am much more satisfied from meals, especially lunch. Before going Primal, I used to have a sandwich everyday for lunch, and I was always hungry later and would have to snack one or two more times before dinner. I don’t snack anymore and I’m not always hungry throughout the day.
Then there is of course the physical change I saw in myself. When I first went Primal I was injured so I couldn’t exercise. All I could do was walk (but not long distances) and swim (with limited use of my legs). Despite that, as soon as I went Primal I started consistently losing 2 pounds a week. I’m 5’3″ and was a starting weight of 130, so I was shocked when I lost that much weight and that fast. More importantly though, I felt great; I felt lighter on my feet, like I could conquer the world and nothing could stop me.
Two months later, and 15 pounds lighter, my weight started leveling off and shortly after I was able to start exercising again. I have adopted the Primal lifestyle for 6 months now and am still seeing slight changes to my body. I haven’t lost a significant amount of weight since my first 2 months of going Primal, but now that I am able to exercise again I’m starting to see the benefits of the Primal diet combined with a Primal lifestyle. I’m seeing leg muscles on my body that I never knew existed. And, what is probably my favorite part, I am a faster triathlete. I’m a faster runner, biker and swimmer. I still haven’t fully worked my training back up from my injury but I’m already noticing I’m faster. I feel like a little kid on Christmas Eve waiting for my next triathlon; it will be my first race since recovering from my injury and going Primal, and I’ve never felt more ready for it.

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  • What do you do for fun/play?
Sean and I sit on the back porch with our dog, Morley, and talk, listen to music, or just sit in silence and listen to the sounds of the outdoors.
On the weekends when we have a bit more time we like to go for hikes or long walks with Morley.

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  • How do you find time to do lots of walking or other low-level exercise, play, relaxation, etc.?
Honestly, Paleo is time-consuming. By the time I get home from work, exercise, clean up breakfast and lunch dishes, make dinner and clean up dinner dishes it’s usually time for bed. But cooking and dishes at least keeps me up and moving around. And cooking with your loved ones can be so much fun and, I believe, it really strengthens a relationship. On the weeknights, if Sean and I do have some down-time, usually we are so tired we just sit on the back porch and chill.
I think the key is, on the weeknights and weekdays try not to turn on the TV or turn on your computer – that time can be better spent going for a walk or enjoying your time with loved ones.

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  • What is the most attractive feature of the Primal Blueprint to you?
I appreciate things (particularly, food) more. I’m growing my own vegetables and I know how hard it is; I appreciate that when I get a box full of CSA-fruits and vegetables every week. I go to the farm every weekend and buy local, grass-fed beef from the farmer; I see how dedicated she is and I am grateful she can provide me with my meat every week. I see the cows grazing in the fields and I am grateful the sun is shining, the rain is raining, and they are well-fed and healthy.
Before going Primal I would just go to the grocery store and have my pick on whatever vegetables and meat I wanted, but when I did that, it was just…food… and I wasn’t as grateful for it as I should have been. Now when I eat my food I know that hard work and good fortune is keeping me from going hungry and I am thankful for every bite.

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  • What does 80/20 mean to you?
It means I am not perfect. It means, when a friend invites me over for dinner and serves lasagna, I am going to eat it, appreciate it, and say “thank you, that was delicious”. It means when I want a beer, I’m just going to have a damn beer.

Sausage, Sweet Potato, and Swiss Chard Breakfast Casserole

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Awhile back Sean and I got rainbow swiss chard in our CSA which we used to make a breakfast casserole. I made the casserole on Sunday night and would heat it up in the microwave for 30-45 s every morning and serve it for breakfast. Healthy, tasty, quick & easy… not much more ya can ask for!

What You’ll Need

  • 1 pound of breakfast sausage (I got some sausage from the farm… it was delicious beyond words)
  • A bunch of greens (I did swiss chard but you could also do spinach, turnip greens, collards or kale)
  • ~2 sweet potatoes
  • ~6-8 large eggs

I started off cooking the sausage in a skillet.

While it was cooking I cut up the sweet potatoes into thin slices and lined the bottom of an 8″ x 8″ baking dish with them.

I chopped up the swiss chard a bit and once the sausage was done cooking I threw it in the skillet as well. I cooked the mixture until the swiss chard was nice and wilted. Then I evenly topped the sweet potatoes with the swiss chard & sausage mixture.

In a separate bowl I whisked the eggs and poured them on top of the casserole, making sure to distribute the eggs evenly throughout the dish.

Baked at 400-deg until the eggs were thoroughly cooked (30-40 minutes). If you stick a knife in the thickest part of the casserole and it comes out clean, it’s ready to eat!

I like the sweet potato & egg layers at the bottom – it made it fun to eat :-)

 

Chili-Glazed Pork with Sweet Potato Hash

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So first off, I have to admit, I didn’t make up this recipe; it’s from Real Simple. But I wanted to share with everyone since it’s paleo-friendly and just so good! Sean and I have broiled the pork in the oven before, and it works great, but we found that it does take much longer than the recipe says it does (it took us ~30 min to get the internal temp to read 145-deg). Recently we acquired the “Big Easy Infrared Oil-less Turkey Fryer” (and yes, it’s as awesome as it sounds), so in the picture you see we cooked the pork in our new infrared “grill”. And by “we” I mean Sean, he’s the grill-master :-)

My job was to take care of the sweet potato hash. The recipe has you grate the potatoes and cook it in oil, but when we tried that in the past the hash always got too mushy; it never got crispy like it looks in Real Simple’s picture. So instead of grating the potatoes I cooked them in the microwave until tender and then cut them into cubes. I cooked the shallots and then added some grass-fed butter to the skillet to help give the sweet potatoes some nice color and crisp.

I love this hash. It reminds me of a healthier paleo-friendly version of the homemade hash my parents used to cook me, my sister and brother on Saturday mornings (with pancakes and eggs of course)!

ps – Our favorite hot sauce to douse this in is Texas Pete. Usually we are fans of Frank’s Red Hot, but the hint of sweetness in the Texas Pete really adds something special…

 

Growing Zucchini

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Before this post, I’ve never grown anything. My only gardening history is from last year when I bought a flower from Lowe’s and tried to not kill it… well, it was supposed to be a flower… but it never lived that long. Now that Sean and I have been focusing on eating local, I’ve wanted more than ever to be able to grow my own vegetables. So I decided to pick one vegetable to grow from seed this year. A vegetable that could grow in a container too; we rent a townhouse so as much as I wish I could have a nice garden in the backyard I will make-do with container gardening. I did a bunch of Googling on the easiest vegetables to grow from seed… and zucchini was the lucky winner.

So on March 11th I planted 20 zucchini seeds in little Jiffy Pots. I wrapped them up in plastic wrap to keep them warm and moist and crossed my fingers. I planted 20 seeds because I was expecting with my

lack-of-a-green-thumb, only one or two of those would actually sprout. Boy was I wrong! Four days later I had my first three seedlings, and the next day I had another six! As the zucchini seedlings started to show I unwrapped the plastic wrap and set them in a sunny place in the house. On weekends when I was home during the day I would set the seedlings outside to soak in the nice NC sun. When their potting mix looked dry I would lightly water the surface of the potting mix with a spray bottle and pour some water in their tray so the roots could soak it up. I also had a rotating fan lightly blowing on the seedlings every so often; I read somewhere that it imitates the wind and makes their stems stronger, giving them a better chance of survival when you transplant them outdoors.

Ten days after sowing my seeds, and after spending a little-too-much time Googling zucchini, I had 13 seedlings. (That’s an impressive 65% success rate for anyone who was wondering!) Growing something from seed is very rewarding. I’m not going to lie, I became a little obsessed with my zucchini seedlings. They were just so damn cute and I really really didn’t want to kill them :-)

You are supposed to transplant the seedlings when they get their first “true leaves”. Apparently the first two leaves you see are the seedlings leaves, and after that they are the “true leaves”. It was obvious when the first true leaf showed on the seedlings, it had a different texture and color. Some of the seedlings roots even started growing through my Jiffy Pot by that point – next time I would use a bigger starting pot for the seeds. So on day 12 I decided it was time to transplant my zucchini seedlings into their containers and set them outside for good. I choose the 2 best looking zucchini seedlings, gave a few to a friend, and shed a tear as I said good-bye to the least healthy seedlings – natural selection is cruel. I transplanted each seedling in their own large plastic gardening container. I read not to use any kind of potting mix that contains soil because the soil doesn’t allow water to drain well in the container, so I went to the local gardening store and bought some Conrad Fafard Professional Potting Mix. It appears to be working well? … but seriously, sometimes I have no clue what I’m doing and I guess :-)

The night before I transplanted my 2 seedlings I made a homemade garlic-pepper spray to spray on my seedlings to keep off caterpillars, slugs and other hungry critters. This stuff seriously reeks, but it definitely works. I boiled 3 c of water and added to that 1/2 diced red onion, 2 tbsp of crushed garlic & 1/2 tbsp of cayenne pepper and covered it and let it sit overnight (outside that is, because it stunk). The next day I strained out the onions and funneled the liquid into a spray bottle. I spray the tops and bottoms of my plant’s leaves with the spray after I water them or after it rains, and I always use the spray at night; during the testing-stage, I accidentally sprayed a leaf during the day with the stuff and the combination of the spray and sun scorched the leaf a bit.

So as of today, April 9th, it is 30 days after sowing my zucchini seeds. And my zucchini plants are looking great! As you can see some of the leaves look a little torn up… we’ve had some hail in NC unfortunately. But I’m not too concerned, it’s been over a week since they took on their slight hail damage and they seem to be doing just fine. I’ve heard vegetables plants are pretty resilient to hail damage, so I’m just going to keep a close eye on them.

My plants each have their 2 seedling leaves, 4-5 true leaves and are even starting to bud! I can’t wait to see a zucchini flower; I think it will be one of this summer’s Top 10 moments for me.

For now, that’s all on my zucchini adventures. I’ve read a few other people’s blogs on their adventures in container gardening and I found everything to be so helpful, so I figured I would contribute my experiences. Hopefully you feel inspired now and want to grow zucchini :-)