LCHF Sauteed Kale Recipe and Tips on Cooking Kale



Check out the ribs on that baby.

I am all about the kale, people.  

Check out these recipes that I found online for Kale (chips), Kale (salad), and More Kale (sauteed).  Last night I made sauteed kale - I just winged it.  It was a success! 

Here are a couple of pointers for cooking kale: 

This plant is tough.  The ribs of the leaves are just not going to break down with fast cooking methods like a sautee, so they have to go.  I bought a whole bunch of kale yesterday, and just used the top leaves of the bunch (essentially, giving it a 6" haircut or so).  I removed the ribs, rolled the kale and did a fine chiffonade.  This is a good technique for getting very thin kale ribbons.  I gave the ribbons a quick rinse with tap water, shook out the excess water, but left some drops clinging to the leaves.  The extra moisture helped the kale steam when they it was first added to the hot pan, softening the plant a bit.  When the water evaporated (pretty quickly), the kale fried up in the buttery goodness that was in the pan. Yummy.

Here's my quickie recipe:

Kate's Sauteed Kale

Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp butter
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 tsp chili flakes
• 1 clove garlic, finely minced
• 3 cups of kale, chopped into a fine chiffonade

  1/2 tsp lemon zest
• 1 tsp salt (or to taste)

Directions:

1. Melt butter and olive oil over medium-high heat in a large skillet.
2. Add chili flakes and garlic to the melted fat, and cook until garlic is softened but not brown.
3. Add kale to pan, and toss to coat in the melted fat. 
4. Add lemon zest and salt to kale, and toss to combine.
5. Sautee kale for 3-5 minutes.  The kale should be vibrant green, and slightly softened.  Serve!

I served this kale with garlic-y, parmesan crusted, butter fried, wild-caught haddock.  It was really delicious! 

Eating for Your Mitochondria?

I just watched the video of this amazing presentation by Dr. Terry Wahls.  She suffers from MS, and was able to reverse the progression of her symptoms through adherence to a diet that she created. 
You need to see this.

This diet is designed to provide your body with sufficient amounts of the micronutrients that it needs to fuel your neurological system and sustain the myelin sheath which protects your brain.  (MS deteriorates the myelin sheath). 

In short: its all about the brain.

In a nutshell, Dr. Wahls recommends the following diet for brain protection and preservation, and observes that it is essentially a model of what our hunter gatherer ancestors ate eons ago:

• 3 cups of dark greens daily, including kale and parsley;
• 3 cups of colorful fruits and vegetables daily, including berries, peppers, peaches;
• 3 cups of sulfurous vegetabls daily, including onions, broccoli, asparagus, and cabbage;
• 1 serving of organic, grass-fed beef daily;
• 1 serving of wild caught fish (not sure if its daily), including herring and salmon;
• 1 serving of organ meet, weekly, including liver, kidney, "hard tongue" (whatever that is)

The diet is a tall order.  I'm not sure that I can get in 9 cups of veggies every day.  I'm not sure that I've ever eaten kale, although I am going to grab some and play around with it.  Not sure whether you can eat kale in a salad, though, as it seems pretty fibrous and I've only ever seen it cooked.

Anyone have any good kale recipes?

Also, the video contains a number of cites to published literature that is available on pubmed.  I would like to write those down and print them out to review. 

The Fat Files: The Case of the Incredible Shrinking Neck

Today, I weighed myself, and surprise, I am down to 196 pounds on the button.  That's 35 official pounds down since I started LCHF/primal last year...  Yikes.  So I did some measurements and discovered that my neck has shrunk down to less than 14.5". 

 

<--- Check me out.

 

Maybe I'm finally over my weight loss plateau.  

 

I also noticed that I have not updated my Numbers Do Not Lie page in, oh, 17 weeks.  Striking.  That's embarassment at plateau-ing, for ya. 

 

Here's what I am up to these days.  The theme is "back on track".

 

Fitness: I am back at the gym, trying to get some challenging workouts in.  I have contacted a local health and fitness coach, who I am going to meet up with on March 10th, to see about getting some training.  The good things are (1) he was recommended to me by someone I know who is in the business (but who is not local and thus cannot train me himself); and (2) he advocates primal nutrition for optimal health, and seems to be into the "lift heavy things" and "chronic cardio is bad" school of thought.  So, that meshes with what I've learned, in theory, about primal nutrition and fitness from Mark Sisson.  I say "in theory" because I am not doing so hot with the primal fitness aspect of this lifestyle.  I am still a little intimidated by the fitness world, and I loathe trying new things in front of a gym full of strangers.  That's why I sought out this trainer.  I am hoping that this will change some things for me and get me back on track with my weight loss.

 

Diet: I hate to admit it, but I have been slackin'.  I'm not completely non-compliant, but I am being a little too lenient with my food choices.  I have been eating out quite a bit, which is a no-no due to the presence of hidden carbs and quality questions regarding the source of the food that comes out on the plate.  I do better (we all do better) when we eat at home.  This is easier said than done when you are a busy mamasita.  Like me.  Also, I have to admit that I have been nibbling on forbidden things.  A bit of rice here, a little spoonful of pasta there, and just a dollop of "do you mind if I have a bite of that" all adds up to a slippery slope back to fat.  I don't want to go there.

 

Let's do this!!

A Success Story in the Making!

My favorite paleo/primal website, Mark's Daily Apple, has added a new page, called "Success Stories in the Making".  Check it out!

You can participate too, along with hundreds of other people who are setting goals and working to achieve them. 

Just submit a dated "before" picture of yourself, together with your name, your age, and the health goals that you wish to achieve through your paleo/primal way of life.  Instructions are on Mark's website. 

I am submitting my information this evening.  Once it is up, I will post a link on this blog so that you can see for yourself.

Best of health!

Fitness for Dummies - Holiday Edition

Would you rather start the New Year off with regret over your December glut, or begin 2012 admiring the work you did in December to help trim your big ol' November butt? 

Everyone always talks about New Year's resolutions, and starting afresh in the New Year.  You can see evidence of this everywhere you look, but especially at your local gym.  In December, the place is dead. 

Come January 2nd or 3rd, however, and you can't get a parking space outside, you have to wait 15 minutes to get on an elliptical machine, and the dumbbells are being occupied by, well, dumbbells who don't know how valuable your time is!  It is ridiculously frustrating, and, if you're like me, it gives you just one more excuse to slack off and stay at home, munching and watching the tube like a zombie. 

Here are some thoughts. 

First, you can do what I did, and hit the gym hard THIS month.  That's right.  Live in the present, and kick some tush NOW, not later.  While everyone else is out at Christmas parties, drinking and noshing their waistlines away, or vying for a parking space at the local shops, you can do the smart thing and hit that deserted wasteland that is your gym in December.  (Not that you can't go to Christmas parties or shop... just don't forget fitness while you gleefully prepare for your favorite holiday). 

There are a lot of benefits to hitting the gym right now.  Because it is not crowded, you don't have to wait in line for machines or weights, you can feel comfortable trying out a new routine or technique because you won't have an audience to observe if you mess up/fall off, and the likelihood is that you may actually get to have some quality time with knowledgeable gym staff who can teach you some cool tricks, or show you how to use a particularly daunting weight machine. 

As well, because you are being mindful of your fitness, you are less likely to treat yourself with the carby delights and alcohol abondanza that are pressed upon you this season.  So, the likelihood is that you will maintain your weight or even lose weight during the holiday season, instead of digging yourself into a nutritional and fitness hole that will be hard to climb out of next month. 

Second, you can start learning fitness techniques that you can do outside of the gym NOW, so that when the inevitable January gym rush hits, you can supplement your gym routine with activities that you can do in and around your home.  

Here's my recommendation: Check out these videos on body weight exercises by Mark Sisson of marksdailyapple.com and the Primal Blueprint fame, and give them a try.  In my life, I've never been able to do a single pullup.  Mark Sisson's videos show techniques that fitness neophytes like me (and maybe you) can use to work our way up to doing pullups, increasing the intensity of the exercise as we develop in upper body strength.  There are also videos for doing squats, pushups and the plank.  Best of all, these are exercises that you can do in the privacy of your own home, whenever the feeling strikes you.  To my family's amusement, I've popped a couple of wall squats (they look a little bizarre) while watching cartoons with my kid, and done some pushups off the kitchen counter while waiting for water to boil. 

Making the commitment to fitness, whether at home or at the gym, is something that you can absolutely do.  In my experience, taking control of my diet and my activity level has been an empowering experience.  

My LCHF 1 year anniversary arrives on January 24, 2011.  I have come a long way since then.  Today, I weighed in at 197 pounds.  I started this way of life at 231.5 pounds.  That's is a total loss of 34.5 pounds to date. 

Thanks to the changes I've made in my diet and fitness over the past year, I've said goodbye to heartburn, IBS, recurrent back pain, feeling dizzy when I bend over to tie my shoes, and wearing size 20W clothing.  I have said hello to being healthy, being able to run around with my kid, looking better (in clothes which are a size 14 regular now), and feeling more confident and accomplished.  Most of all, I have a hope for the future that I will never be fat and sick again, and I can see myself trim and healthy.

My interim personal goal is to hit my 40 pound weightloss milestone by January 24, 2012. 

What's your goal?   

Bacon and Eggs are Good for You

Here is what FitDay has to offer regarding the nutritional profile of this morning's breakfast, which was: two fried eggs, three and a half crispy pieces of bacon, and one 6 oz. coffee with 1 oz. of half & half.

Check out the graph.  Breakfast was 70% fat (blue), 27% protein (yellow), 3% carbohydrate (purple). 

The details are below.  Not that I count calories or anything, but I was a little shocked to see that my big, bacon-ey breakfast was just over 300 calories.  Compare this to the carb-load in a Starbucks Apple Bran Muffin (350 calories, 9g fat, 64g carb, 6g protein) or their Cranberry Orange Scone (490 calories, 18g fat, 73g carb, 8g protein), and tell me what you think will get you to lunch without throwing you into a diabetic coma.  And don't get me started on their beverages... I shudder to remember the days when I wouldn't hesitate to suck down an Iced Peppermint White Chocolate Mocha.  

	Grams	Calories	%-Cals
Calories		310
Fat	24.3	218	70	%
Saturated	8.3	74	24	%
Polyunsaturated	3.4	30	10	%
Monounsaturated	9.8	87	28	%
Carbohydrate	2.5	10	3	%
Dietary Fiber	0
Protein	20.1	82	27	%
Alcohol	0	0	0	%

Recipe: LCHF Sausage and Bread Stuffing

I served this recipe last night with Roasted Chicken and Garlic Mashed Cauliflower.  Even my high-carb loving family members loved it.  This stuffing was a huge hit!  No one believed it was LCHF.

Note: my husband made the roasted chicken (not pictured).  It was his first-ever attempt, and he accidentally roasted the entire bird breast-side down. 

Guess what?  It was phenomenal: the skin was extra crispy and the breast meat was extra juicy.  

We will be roasting all of our poultry breast side down from now on!

Here's how to make the stuffing:

LCHF Sausage and Bread Stuffing

Ingredients:

• ½ package Jimmy Dean pork sausage
• ¼ stick butter
• 12 oz mix aromatic vegetables, diced (I used a package of soup mix veggies, which included 1 small onion; 1 carrot; 1 small leek; 1 very tiny turnip)
• 6 oz sliced mushrooms
• 1 tablespoon each chopped fresh parsley and fresh dill
• 8 LCHF Buttery Garlic Cheese Biscuits, torn into pieces
• ¼ cup chicken stock
• ¼ stick butter, cut into pieces

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 F.
2. In a large frying pan set to medium high heat, brown sausage and break apart into crumbles.
3. Remove sausage from pan, leaving fat behind.
4. Add butter to pan, and when melted, add the aromatic vegetables and cook until the onion is translucent.
5. Add the mushrooms, and cook for approximately 5 more minutes, until they begin to soften.
6. Add the herbs, biscuits and stock to the pan and stir to combine.
7. Place the prepared stuffing into your baking pan of choice, and dot with butter. 
8. Bake for 30 minutes, or until the stuffing is well browned and crispy on top. 

Serve with roasted chicken and mashed cauliflower for a fabulous traditional dinner!

Recipe: LCHF Buttery Garlic and Sharp Cheddar Biscuits

Success! 

I made garlic and cheese biscuits on Sunday, and they turned out buttery, delicious and all-around amazing!  The recipe made exactly nine good-sized biscuits (using my 2 oz scooper).  Best part of all, these biscuits weigh in at about 1 net carb per biscuit. 

I used one biscuit to make a sausage, egg and cheese sandwich (which was great), and the rest I crumbled and set aside to use in a stuffing for roasted chicken.  The coconut flour gave the recipe a true biscuit texture, with plenty of body and good crumble.  Thanks to the copious quantities of butter, garlic, and cheese, you couldn't taste the coconut flavor very much - even my husband liked them (and he is not a coconut fan). Quite simply, these were to die for, and I consider this recipe one of my top LCHF recipes to date.  I am now trying to think of several recipes that I miss where I can switch them in for traditional bread.  Here's the recipe:

Buttery Garlic and Cheddar Biscuits

Ingredients

• ¼ cup butter, melted and slightly cooled
• 1/3 cup sifted Coconut Flour
• 4 eggs
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
• ¼ teaspoon baking powder
• 1 cup sharp cheddar cheese, shredded

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. 
2. Line a cookie sheet with foil, and grease.
3. Whisk together eggs, butter, salt, and garlic powder.
4. Add coconut flour and baking powder and whisk until there are no lumps.
5. Fold in cheese.
6. Drop batter by the 2 oz scoop onto greased cookie sheet.
7. Bake for 15 minutes, or until lightly browned. 
8. Let cool in pan for 5-10 minutes before removing and serving.  Make sure that biscuits are completely cool before storage or they won't stay crisp!

It's Thanksgiving Somewhere...

Just the other day, I was reading a post on a low carb blog, and learned that Canadians have Thanksgiving, too.  And it's earlier than ours.  Who knew?

I was immediately filled with the desire for juicy turkey legs, dripping with gravy, served with stuffing.  Then it hit me.  OMG.  How do you make low carb stuffing without bread??!! 

I googled and found a couple of recipes for low carb stuffing bread, which you can use to make low carb bread cubes, which you then incorporate into your stuffing recipe. 

I also noodled over this for a little while, and thought that Wellness Mama's banana muffins (which are made with coconut flour) could be de-bananaed and made into a cheddar-bay type biscuit (the link is to the carby original recipe, where 2.5 cups of bisquick makes 12 biscuits at about 17 grams of carb each), which could then be used in place of regular bread in the stuffing recipe that I make (with oodles of butter, sauteed veggies, and succulent sage pork sausage).  I found a coconut flour cheddar biscuit recipe here:  

Cheese Biscuits

Ingredients

¼ cup butter, melted
1/3 cup sifted Coconut Flour
4 eggs
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon onion powder
¼ teaspoon baking powder
½ cup sharp cheddar cheese, shredded

Method
Blend together eggs, butter, salt, and onion powder. Combine coconut flour with baking powder and whisk into batter until there are no lumps. Fold in cheese. Drop batter by the spoonful onto a greased cookie sheet. Bake at 400F for 15 minutes. For a cheesier biscuit increase cheese to ¾ cup.

You know how I love me some kitchen experimentation!! 
Biscuits tonight...turkey on Sunday.  I will report back!!

Barbeque Restaurants: Primal and Low Carb(ish) Dining Opportunities Abound

Hi, my name is Kate, and I'm addicted to barbeque. 

Here's a photo of me enjoying the yabba dabba doo rib, with sides of cucumber salad and collard greens, at Smokin' With Chris in Southington, CT, this summer.  My friend snapped this shot with her cell phone because she was amazed at the meaty proportions of my dinner.  What can I say?  I can eat.

Here are some tips for eating out primal and low carb: 

First of all, barbeque restaurants are a great choice for someone who eats primal and low carb, because there is a lot of meat on the menu, and oftentimes, there are more veggie-only sides served ala cart than in a typical restaurant, including collard greens, coleslaw, buttered green beans, you name it. 

So hop on google and check out barbeque restaurants in your area, and how they've been rated.  That's how I found Smokin' With Chris, and it ended up being one of my favorite restaurants. 

You've got to be vigilant, though.  Our common enemies, sugar and starch, are lurking about, ready to hop on your plate and climb into your belly. 

Recipe: LCHF Hungarian Goulash and Garlic Mashed Cauliflower

On Saturday, I caught a Good Eats episode called "Stew Romance" and spent about 30 minutes salivating over the Hungarian Goulash recipe that Alton Brown made.  I decided that I would low-carbify it, and see how it came out.

The results?  So good that I didn't even have time to take a picture of the finished plate before my family dug in and destroyed the entire batch.  (Sorry for the lack of picture!)

Try this recipe and you won't be sorry!  It is meaty and unctuous, smoky and just a little tangy.  Served with garlicky mashed cauliflower, this is a Fall/Winter meal that just cannot be beat! 

Here's how you do it:

Check Me Out!

Lynn Terry of TravelingLowCarb was kind enough to let me do a guest post on her blog about living mostly Primal and definitely LCHF.  Here it is!  Thank you to Lynn!