Paleo for Dummies

Wow...I knew it had been a while since I posted, but I just saw that it's actually been over a month!! Oops - sorry! You'll all be relieved to know that I haven't actually been starving myself this whole entire time - I have still been cooking tasty, nutritious meals...but because I've been super busy, I haven't been creating anything amazing (aka gourmet, or what I considered blog-worthy). Thanks to the prompts (nagging?) of a couple of friends though, I've realised that what most people want is actually ideas and inspiration for quick, nutritious...but still delicious...everyday meals. So for the next little while at least, that's what you're going to get! I've been taking photos of all the food prep I've done in the last couple of days (and I'll keep doing it), so I can post them along with explanations of what I did. As one friend called it, "Paleo for Dummies"! I hope you find it useful.

Monday
Dinner - red curry pork & vegetables

To prep vegetables, grate one eggplant and finely chop quarter of a cabbage. Combine and set aside.

In a large frypan or wok, heat a small amount of coconut oil, then add 2 cloves of crushed garlic and 3 tbsp red curry paste (use 2 if you don't like it so hot!). Cook, stirring frequently, until fragrant (usually a few minutes).

Add in 500g of free range pork mince, and stir to break up.

Cook until browned, stirring often, then add vegetables and half a tin of coconut cream. Combine thoroughly.

Continue to cook until vegetables have softened, then serve.

Tuesday
Breakfast - quick tuna frittata-ish thing!

For this, you need a small tin of tuna, two eggs, onion flakes, garlic powder, dried mixed herbs, salt, pepper, and olive oil (and an optional tomato or something to serve alongside it).

Lightly spray a small frypan with olive oil and heat. Lightly fry tuna, breaking it up by stirring.

In a bowl or jug, beat together eggs and seasonings. Add to frypan, and lightly stir to combine.

As with an omelette, push edges in towards centre slightly with a spatula, allowing runny egg to flow into space created. Repeat a few times around the pan.

Leave over a medium heat until the egg has cooked firm and the frittata is browning at the edges.

I'm a bit funny about having any of the egg runny (I like runny yolks in poached and fried eggs, but runny whites or runny egg in omelettes/frittatas makes me want to gag!), so I stick my frittata under the grill for a few minutes to completely cook the top. Serve drizzled with olive oil and accompanied with something fresh! (chopped avocado is nice with this too)

Dinner - crockpot roast chicken & stir-fried vegetables

I've been a big fan of the crockpot for a while, but now that I'm not usually home from work until 7pm, it's fast becoming my best friend! Crockpot roast chicken is super easy, and it's nice to know you only have to throw together some vegetables when you get home.

For the chicken, chop an onion and cover the bottom of the crockpot with it. Rub the skin of a defrosted, free range whole chicken with salt, pepper, and olive oil. Top with some dried herbs (I used my home grown, dehydrated sage), then place in the crockpot.

Cook on low for 5-6 hours (I used a wall socket timer for this, so that it finished about the time I get home). You should come home to something that looks a bit like this...

For the vegetables, I just chopped up what I had in the fridge (more cabbage, some red capsicum, and another eggplant), heated some coconut oil in a frypan and cooked them all together. I may have added some crushed garlic in first...I can't quite remember! Once the chicken was done, I tipped the onions and some of the juice (not all of it, or the vegetables will get drowned) from the chicken into the other vegetables and cooked for another few minutes before serving.

Ok, I think that's enough for now! Wednesday's & Thursday's breakfasts, plus Thursday's dinner to come soon.

(Note: there are no photos of lunches, because in our household, lunches are almost always leftover dinner! Some people prefer to cook a whole bunch of food in the weekend to put in the freezer for the week's lunches, but I like a bit of variety, so we just make sure we cook enough dinner to cover lunch the following day.)