The greatest thing since sliced (paleo) bread...

I don't really miss bread anymore, but just occasionally, it's nice to have something bread-like to accompany a meal. This bread paleo recipe here (shared with me by a CrossFit friend) is simple and versatile.

I doubled the recipe and added a bit of flavouring, so the recipe ended up being:

3 tbsp melted coconut oil
4 eggs
4 very heaped tsp of coconut flour

1 tsp baking powder

Onion flakes (probably around 2 tsp)

1 tsp smoked paprika

I had some for breakfast, topped with scrambled eggs and olive oil..

The rest, I had for dinner, as a Tuna & bacon open paleo sandwich

In a bowl, I combined a small tin of tuna, a few spoonfuls of homemade wasabi mayonnaise (in the fridge from last week), and some capers.

Leaving that to sit for a while, I grilled some bacon, and toasted a couple of slices of paleo coconut bread (under the grill, as we don't own a toaster!). Then I mashed some avocado & spread that on the toasted bread, and spread the tuna on top.

On top of the tuna, I added the grilled bacon and a couple of slices of tomato.

Season with salt & pepper, and enjoy. If you're eating it with your hands, it might be useful to have a napkin within easy reach!

Just like Mum used to make...well, sort of...

My Mum makes this great tuna fish pie. It’s simple, but so yummy – the perfect comfort food. Except that it’s got flour in it. And milk. And potatoes on top. Paleo fail!

So I decided to try making a paleo version.

Paleo tuna fish pie

Filling

2 tbsp coconut oil

3 tbsp coconut flour

1 tin coconut cream

Approx 600g tinned tuna (I used a 425g tin plus a 185g tin), drained

1 onion

1 small broccoli, chopped into small pieces

1 carrot, chopped into small pieces

2 tbsp Dijon mustard

Salt & pepper to taste

Topping

4 small kumara

Coconut cream

Salt & pepper

Cook onion, broccoli and carrots (I boiled the broccoli & carrots, then sautéed them with the onion).

Melt coconut oil in a large saucepan, then add coconut flour. Cook for a few minutes, stirring constantly.

Slowly add coconut cream, stirring until smooth between each addition.

Once all coconut cream has been added, continue to heat (on a low heat) until sauce boils.

Remove from heat, add tuna and veges, 2 tbsp Dijon mustard, and salt and pepper to taste.

Boil kumara until soft. Mash with coconut cream (the mixture needs to be reasonably wet, so that it doesn’t dry out when you cook the pie), and season to taste.

Spread the filling mixture in a baking dish, then top with kumara mash.

Bake at 180 degrees for 30-45 minutes. If you do dairy, some grated cheese on top would be yummy!

'Failure'

The other day, I wrote about pride and celebrating our successes, but what do we do when we 'fail'*...fail to meet others' expections or to meet our own?

This is something I really struggle with. I hate looking bad (read: not doing something perfectly) in front of others, and I hate it even more when I don't meet the pretty huge expectations I place on myself. In these situations, I have a tendency to try and hide it...pretend it never happened. How many of you respond the same way? How many of you avoid talking or thinking about perceived 'failures', and shut down the conversation when others bring them up? It's hard to admit to being less than perfect!

I was inspired and humbled by Bear's response to Saturday's baseline Grace workout. He was disappointed. His time was slower than his personal best (PB), and the workout didn't feel good. But instead of refusing to discuss it, he posted his time on Facebook and talked about his performance with other CrossFitters.

And why not? We can't be at peak performance every single minute of every single day. It's normal to have off days. It's normal to have strengths and weaknesses. Admitting to these is just admitting to being human.

I can, and will, learn from Bear's approach.


So in the spirit of learning...in the spirit of personal development...I am admitting to 'failing' in the kitchen last night.

We came in late from CrossFit, we had our post-workout smoothie, and I was contemplating throwing together a lamb stirfry for dinner. But I was tired. Scratch that...I was exhausted...we both were...and cooking just seemed too hard. So we ended up having what will henceforth be referred to as a 'block mash-up'. Instead of creating a delicious culinary masterpiece, I made up our blocks using tuna, yoghurt, prunes, and almonds (not all mixed together, I hasten to add!). Domestic goddess fail!

Oh well, at least lunch was pretty tasty...

Tongan Tuna Cakes
(because we're house-sitting for our friends, The Tongans, and so it was in their kitchen that these were created)

Ingredients
3 kumara, boiled to soft
1 egg
50g almond meal
196g tinned tuna in springwater (drained)
2 spring onions
2 tsp paprika
salt
pepper

Mash kumara, combine with egg and almond meal.
Stir in drained tuna, spring onions, paprika, and salt and pepper to taste.
Shape into patties (I made 8 patties, which were supposed to be approximately 1 block each...but I think we went a bit crazy on the kumara!).

Cook in butter, using a frypan or electric frypan, for approximately 5 minutes each side.
Serve with sweet chilli sauce (Bear's paleo sweet chilli recipe to be posted soon!)

*Note: 'fail' and 'failure' are used only in the context of failing to meet expectations (own or others')