1.20.12

the other day on facebook, i saw someone post a picture of the shepherd's pie he and his wife had made following the paleo diet recipe. it looked amazing, but when i read the recipe i wasn't too excited about cooking with two pounds of beef so soon after my juice fast (this morning caught me up to the end of day five). i also realized that it took two hours of marinating the meat, and then six hours in the crock pot, which is completely fine, but i really didn't have the time for that today, so i modified the recipe a little bit. i used only one pound of lean, all natural turkey and a pound of mushrooms instead of the beef and then just cooked it all in a dutch oven instead of crock pot. it turned out pretty delicious, and i actually liked the slightly smaller amount of meat, since it really gave the veggies voice in the dish. in case any of you want to try this out, here's my recipe:

1 lb ground turkey

16oz fresh mushroom (chopped very small in either a food processor or blender)

9 cloves of garlic (minced; separated into 6 cloves a

nd 3 cloves)

1 yellow onion (chopped)

1 head of cabbage (chopped)

4 carrots (chopped/diced)

4 stalks of celery (chopped/diced)

1 head of cauliflower (removed from core)

3 Tbsp green onion (chopped)

2Tbsp olive oil

1/2Tbsp butter

1 small can of tomato paste

sea salt and pepper

oregano

thyme

(i didn't measure out the oregano or thyme, just used an amount that looked good to me)

a splash of water

a splash of milk

Combine turkey, mushroom, olive oil, 6 cloves of garlic, or

egano, and thyme in a bowl until turkey and mushroom

are coated and set aside in refrigerator for later use.

In a large skillet, grill the rest of the garlic and the onion until reduced in size and then add the turkey mixture and cook until browned. Transfer the mixture to the dutch oven on medium heat (approximately, my stove is gas so i'm not sure what it woul

d be on an electric). Add the cabbage, carrots, celery, a splash of water, and sea salt and pepper to taste. Stir up and cover to cook veggies.

While this is simmering, steam the cauliflower. Once s

oft, mash with potato masher (or put in food processor) until it's about the consistency of mashed potato. Add a splash of milk and 1/2Tbsp to flavor, stir and then stir in the green onions.

Scoop the turkey and vegetable mixture into a bakin

g dish (mine looks small in the photo because i had to use two dishes) and top with the cauliflower mash. Set the oven to 500 (or use the broiler) and place the baking dish in for about 10 minutes. Again, mine is gas and seems to be a bit off from the cooking time of other recipes i find online, so just keep an eye on it. It's done when the bottom part starts to bubble up and the cauliflower mash starts to become golden brown on top.

It's definitely a new take on the dish, and with my tweaks i could probably never serve it to chef ramsay and call it shepherd's pie, but it tastes pretty wonderful :)

(this is also the first recipe i've posted besides the kale chips, and since i sort of make stuff up as i go along, let me know if anything sounds amiss!)

(adapted from this recipe)

1.18.12

i really should be doing homework for my five classes tomorrow, but i've been juice fasting and so many people have been asking me about it that i thought it should be blogged. It all started when i read Fast Food Nation years ago, then i saw Super Size Me, and then Knive
s Over Forks, and finally Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead. So basically for years, i've been disgusted by fast foods and other processed goods, but i didn't have the education to eat any healthier and the worst part of it was that i kind of thought that i was being healthy for the most part. my sister tried the Reboot Your Life fast from the Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead documentary and it started a chain. next was my mom, followed by me and oscar. day one was super easy for me because i was so ready to give up my unhealthy habits. day two was also surprisingly easy, until the evening hit and i was home from school. i got through classes from 8am to 5pm perfectly, but on the way to see Beauty and the Beast 3d, my gps wouldn't cooperate and i had a little bit of a melt down in the car. then when we got home i immediately fell asleep on the couch. today is day three and it's going so much better! i don't think we'll do the full 7 days that we had planned on, probably just 4 or 5, but afterwards we plan on juicing and having fruit and veggies throughout the day and then having a super healthy meal for dinner. i usually have terrible stomach and headaches, and my headaches slowly seem to be going away; my stomach hasn't been hurting at all the past three days and i don't feel bloated at all. oscar's skin is clearing up a lot, too. so many benefits from a healthy lifestyle!! we've been needing a boost in our lives and something to kick start a new, healthier and happier lifestyle, and i think the Reboot has done it! :)

pictures: (one) day one dinner of veggie soup, (two) day two breakfast juice of kale, carrot, green apple, golden delicious apple, and grapefruit, (three) day two dinner of kale, cilantro, orange, cucumber, and green apple, (four) day three dinner juice of bell pepper, carrot, tomato, kale, apple, and celery with a side of slightly overcooked kale chips, which were still delicious, (five) showing off my dinner, (six) just a photo i snapped today of my precious(giant)cat

recipe for kale chips:

Wash kale and cut stems out, then tear or cut into bite-sized pieces
Arrange on a cookie sheet (i put foil on it to keep it clean) and drizzle with about 1 Tbsp of olive oil and sea salt to taste
Bake in oven at 350 for under ten minutes (mine were overcooked at 10)