boring domestic stuff
Aug. 1st, 2013 12:13 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
naushikaThis past week has been terrifically busy; end of the month is always busy at one of my jobs. And for my other job, I'm starting a new project tomorrow that is to be a rush job, and finished in a week. So I'm gonna be busy still for quite a while, ahaha.
This week I bought some non-stick flexible mats for my dehydrator, and they are a GODSEND. I've always loved my dehydrator but things stick to the trays pretty bad. ESPECIALLY fruit. Trying to pry the dried fruit pieces off the hard plastic just made me end up with a bunch of dried fruit shards. Not yummy. I was pretty much only doing jerky because jerky is easier to get off the trays. But now with these mats.. omg NOTHING STICKS. Even the stickiest things, strawberries and tomatoes, popped right off. It's breathed a whole new life into my dehydrator tbh. This week alone I've done bananas, tomatoes, strawberries, beef jerky, and I just took a batch of spiced apple slices off.
strawberriesssssssss
This is ~1.5 pounds of strawberries dehydrated into one quart sized bag, haha. I love dehydrating fruit especially because I just don't eat it fast enough before it goes bad in my fridge. And sometimes I just want to mindlessly snack on crunchy things, so dried fruit is a+ for that.
I've encountered a problem where none of my pants fit anymore. They are too big..! I dug out an old pair of jeans from college that fit, though, so.. yay! I also have a pair of skinny jeans that I bought a while ago but didn't really fit.. they fit more comfortably now. So I'm not completely pantless yet. I weighed myself for the first time in a month and I've lost 12 pounds in 30 days. Bringing my total to at least 50 pounds lost* in the past 4.5 months. Ahaha. I feel marginally proud of myself. I feel like I found a cheat code to life. Eating paleo is really so easy. I want to tell everyone about it. But I don't want to be that ~asshole HeAlThY EaTeR who tries to evangelize to everybody they know.
*I'm not sure what I weighed when I started, but I was over the Wii Fit's max, and it wouldn't weigh me/let me use it anymore, so I know at least that much.
I bought a shitton of nuts from nuts.com. Totally recommend them! Good prices, and the packaging is adorable. I got two pounds of sunflower seeds, two pounds of ranch peanuts, a pound of mixed nuts (with no peanuts), and a pound of hickory smoked almonds. The little one in the front is a free sample of cashews which I INHALED because cashews are my kryptonite.
I discovered a bit of strawberry in a salad is amazing.
I KEPT SAYING I WANTED TO MAKE SOUP AND I DID IT! SOUPPPPPPPPPPP :D This is curried cream of broccoli and it was so tasty! I made a few changes to the recipe, namely leaving out the apple (because.. why??), and subbing green onions in for leeks because my store didn't have any leeks. This recipe made a ton of soup. We had some of the leftovers another night and Chris added some cooked bacon to it and I have to admit the addition of a little meat made the soup even better somehow. This soup is just strong flavors left and right what with the broccoli and curry and onions, so it really stands up to smoky meat.
The previous recipe is what made me FINALLY go out and buy some coconut milk. Everyone raves about this stuff but I FEAR CHANGE so I've been dragging my feet. But I wanted to make that soup and it calls for coconut milk, so COCONUT MILK I BOUGHT. And then in the store I was struck with indecision because there were two brands of coconut milk. So.. I bought them both. And then in the interest of SCIENCE I did a blind test taste.
Chaokoh: From Thailand, more expensive (2.89/can). Very thick, and when chilled it was basically a creamy foam. Flavor is milder.
Goya: From Mexico, cheaper (2.19/can). Thinner, more liquidy, retains liquidity when chilled. Strong coconut flavor.
I think each have their purposes. For soups the Chaokoh is probably better because it's creamier and the coconut flavor isn't so pronounced. I could pretty much drink that Goya straight up, though.. yum.
I've fallen in love with coconuts in general, which are like, the miracle fruit. Coconut is so good for you!
Sausage, cucumber, tomato, sweet potato, and a homemade strawberry, uh.. jam.. sauce. As you can see I am on a real strawberry kick lately. I've also developed, like, a vegetable addiction.
Since traditional shepherd's pie is out (as we don't eat potatoes or corn anymore), Chris and I came up with this alternate version, using sweet potato. We could have mashed it but that is work and we are lazy.
So freakin delicious though, you have no idea.
Burgers, deconstructed. /food channel lingo
We usually end up eating regular burgers-on-buns at least once a month for whatever reason (last time, people came over and wanted burgers, so that happened) which is why I am content with eating bunless burgers the rest of the time.
This week I bought some non-stick flexible mats for my dehydrator, and they are a GODSEND. I've always loved my dehydrator but things stick to the trays pretty bad. ESPECIALLY fruit. Trying to pry the dried fruit pieces off the hard plastic just made me end up with a bunch of dried fruit shards. Not yummy. I was pretty much only doing jerky because jerky is easier to get off the trays. But now with these mats.. omg NOTHING STICKS. Even the stickiest things, strawberries and tomatoes, popped right off. It's breathed a whole new life into my dehydrator tbh. This week alone I've done bananas, tomatoes, strawberries, beef jerky, and I just took a batch of spiced apple slices off.
strawberriesssssssss
This is ~1.5 pounds of strawberries dehydrated into one quart sized bag, haha. I love dehydrating fruit especially because I just don't eat it fast enough before it goes bad in my fridge. And sometimes I just want to mindlessly snack on crunchy things, so dried fruit is a+ for that.
I've encountered a problem where none of my pants fit anymore. They are too big..! I dug out an old pair of jeans from college that fit, though, so.. yay! I also have a pair of skinny jeans that I bought a while ago but didn't really fit.. they fit more comfortably now. So I'm not completely pantless yet. I weighed myself for the first time in a month and I've lost 12 pounds in 30 days. Bringing my total to at least 50 pounds lost* in the past 4.5 months. Ahaha. I feel marginally proud of myself. I feel like I found a cheat code to life. Eating paleo is really so easy. I want to tell everyone about it. But I don't want to be that ~asshole HeAlThY EaTeR who tries to evangelize to everybody they know.
*I'm not sure what I weighed when I started, but I was over the Wii Fit's max, and it wouldn't weigh me/let me use it anymore, so I know at least that much.
I bought a shitton of nuts from nuts.com. Totally recommend them! Good prices, and the packaging is adorable. I got two pounds of sunflower seeds, two pounds of ranch peanuts, a pound of mixed nuts (with no peanuts), and a pound of hickory smoked almonds. The little one in the front is a free sample of cashews which I INHALED because cashews are my kryptonite.
I discovered a bit of strawberry in a salad is amazing.
I KEPT SAYING I WANTED TO MAKE SOUP AND I DID IT! SOUPPPPPPPPPPP :D This is curried cream of broccoli and it was so tasty! I made a few changes to the recipe, namely leaving out the apple (because.. why??), and subbing green onions in for leeks because my store didn't have any leeks. This recipe made a ton of soup. We had some of the leftovers another night and Chris added some cooked bacon to it and I have to admit the addition of a little meat made the soup even better somehow. This soup is just strong flavors left and right what with the broccoli and curry and onions, so it really stands up to smoky meat.
The previous recipe is what made me FINALLY go out and buy some coconut milk. Everyone raves about this stuff but I FEAR CHANGE so I've been dragging my feet. But I wanted to make that soup and it calls for coconut milk, so COCONUT MILK I BOUGHT. And then in the store I was struck with indecision because there were two brands of coconut milk. So.. I bought them both. And then in the interest of SCIENCE I did a blind test taste.
Chaokoh: From Thailand, more expensive (2.89/can). Very thick, and when chilled it was basically a creamy foam. Flavor is milder.
Goya: From Mexico, cheaper (2.19/can). Thinner, more liquidy, retains liquidity when chilled. Strong coconut flavor.
I think each have their purposes. For soups the Chaokoh is probably better because it's creamier and the coconut flavor isn't so pronounced. I could pretty much drink that Goya straight up, though.. yum.
I've fallen in love with coconuts in general, which are like, the miracle fruit. Coconut is so good for you!
Sausage, cucumber, tomato, sweet potato, and a homemade strawberry, uh.. jam.. sauce. As you can see I am on a real strawberry kick lately. I've also developed, like, a vegetable addiction.
Since traditional shepherd's pie is out (as we don't eat potatoes or corn anymore), Chris and I came up with this alternate version, using sweet potato. We could have mashed it but that is work and we are lazy.
So freakin delicious though, you have no idea.
Burgers, deconstructed. /food channel lingo
We usually end up eating regular burgers-on-buns at least once a month for whatever reason (last time, people came over and wanted burgers, so that happened) which is why I am content with eating bunless burgers the rest of the time.
no subject
Date: 2013-08-01 02:34 pm (UTC)I'm hungry now.
no subject
Date: 2013-08-01 09:36 pm (UTC)my pants are too loose too but i'm too scared to go see if i've actually dropped a size or if they are just loose. ALSO I FEEL REALLY GUILTY ABOUT THE PASTA I BOUGHT TODAY NOW :D
i can't believe how much little changes make the difference. goddamn sugar lol.
deconstructed burgers look so good. and omggggggg nuts and fruit and vegessssssss.
I can't wait for summer.
no subject
Date: 2013-08-01 10:24 pm (UTC)hahaha! I feel the same way! Though I have at times been that asshole...but usually only when someone asks me about Paleo.
no subject
Date: 2013-08-02 01:59 am (UTC)And by "disgusts" I mean "Why are you so awesome for making amazing life choices Ihateyouonlynotreally?!"
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Date: 2013-08-02 04:31 am (UTC)Those nut bags are adorable!
no subject
Date: 2013-08-05 02:17 pm (UTC)What kind of dehydrator do you have, and do you recommend it? I was kinda maybe sorta looking to buy one myself.