Wednesday, November 28, 2012

It's Almost Like This 'Eating Healthy' Thang Pays Off

Last year at Thanksgiving:

I. Hurt. Everywhere. Too much stuffing when I haven't had any gluten or grains in over a month, too much starch, and too many cats in the room (making it that much harder to breathe). Let me just sit in this chair for forty minutes and stair into nothingness while I try to figure out how to move my feet to then walk to the car to then drive home.

This year at Thanksgiving:

I'm. Making. PIES. Avoid stuffing and the non-Paleo pies at all costs... maybe just a bite or two of bread, just for the taste... nope, wait, that hurts now. Never mind, then; gimmie that turkey! And while I'm thinking of it, how about those multiple vegetable sides?! Load me up! And how about some crockpot hot chocolate with dessert? Um, yes please!

This whole month has been about taking pride in my accomplishments from the last year, aka: My First Year Paleo. Before the holiday season began, I officially hit my lowest weight since eighth grade. Let me say that again. Eighth. Grade. The numbers that really matter to me, though, are these:
  • 8 - the average number of hours I've been sleeping each night for two months
  • 3-4 - the number of times I work out during the week now that I've given myself permission to take it easier on my better toned body
  • 60 - the number of seconds I can hold a handstand with or without doing pushups at the same time
  • 4-6 - the average dress size that fits me comfortably without making me look like I'm either wearing a burlap sack or like I got poured into my clothes and didn't know when to say 'stop'
  • 12+ - the number of months I've gone without getting sick like I usually do once the holidays cycle back
  • 5 - the number of new exercises I introduce into my month to make sure I'm not getting bored
  • 2 - the number of inches my hair has grown out in a year, which is good, since Colorado's climate does not get along with my Midwestern hair
Because of some large milestones, I've been traveling a bit. Planes are, for me, nothing short of torture, but not for the reasons you'd probably assume; I love flying, am rarely bothered by screaming infants or kids, never get stuck to Mr. Elbows McFidget-Pants or Mrs. Wearing Salami-Deodorant, and stick to carry-on to keep luggage from getting lost. That said...

There was a point a few years ago when a plane ride meant three additional weeks of respiratory illness so severe that I couldn't hold down food or use my throat to talk... or breathe. I could be on a plane and feel that one germy blob that had been circulating in the cabin's air conditioning wait until I was comfy in my seat and then... FWAP! It'd hit me, and I'd feel myself starting to get sick before the flight landed. Along with the crappy recycled air, the seats on most commercial airlines have become startlingly uncomfortable, leading me to wonder just how much trouble I would get into if I started doing exuberant calisthenics or power yoga in the aisles once every twenty minutes.

Well, I think I have finally overcome my justified annoyance of flying. How?

Eat healthy, for shit's sake!

I loaded up on some Paleo staples before both big trips, since I didn't know what I'd be able to eat on the road. Freeze-dried fruit, nuts and goji berries, chopped veggies, and a homemade 2-pound bag of cajun beef jerky kept me from eating the crap at the airports, kept me from wasting energy trying to digest garbage so it could be focused on repelling the plethora of germs looking for a new home in my lungs, and kept me full and happy when I couldn't find a convenient place to get a meal.

And what's more, I got to meet my brand new niece and nephew (fraternal twins) while in the best health of my life! That, my loves, is a nice 'win'!

Wednesday, November 21, 2012

A Perfect Piece Of Paleo Pumpkin Pie

Sweet damn, what a strange month this has been! Lotsa family, lotsa friends, and lotsa food... and with all that, a sincere want to stay away from my computer for as long as possible. But since I'm working on something tomorrow and have a moment to write about it today, I figure why not crank up some music and engage in a little "typing therapy"?

First of all, I'm going to have to write about my experiences traveling a lot over this month. Why? Because I didn't get sick on any of my plane rides, that's why! Hallelujah and a gloryoski! I'm not prone to coughs and colds, save for when I travel on airplanes. And not always, just certain times of year... like now. I'm usually the target of that one germy blob that's been circling the ventilation system waiting for the right person... and then BAM, it smacks right into me, and within a few hours, I'm going through boxes of Kleenex like nobody's business, sounding like a Muppet, and waiting for someone to stop the jackhammers in my sinuses. But not this time, no no!

Secondly, I have a backlog of recipes that I've eaten too quickly to take pictures of, so I'll have to go through and do them all again so I can write 'em up. (Gee. Darn.) What I do for the sake of posterity.

But now for the real reason I'm writing today... I'm making pies. Yummy, yummy pies. AND THEY'RE MINE, DO YOU HEAR ME?! ALL MIIIIIIIIINE! (Unless you're going to be at my friends' house for Thanksgiving, in which case, you may have some.)

Pumpkin on the left, Chocolate Pudding on the right
My mentor had told me last year that he had experimented with making different crusts for pies so he could, you know, eat at Thanksgiving without exploding. But what I remember from this conversation is that he didn't have the results he had expected. I'd been hesitating on this experiment since my own disastrous attempt at making sweet potato gnocchi with coconut flour and ended up with a giant pot of mush. It takes some time to get the egg/oil/"flour" ratios right for some recipes, and I don't want to waste food if I don't go into it knowing what I'm doing at least a little.

Almond meal is my go-to for crusts. It's easily adaptable for sweet and savory dishes, and inexpensive to make, so long as you have a food processor and access to almonds in bulk. This ended up being prefect for both pies in different ways. The Pumpkin was my standard crust of 2 cups almond meal, 2 eggs, 1 Tbsp coconut oil, 1 tsp salt, which binds together very well and gets crispy without burning. The Chocolate Pudding started off as a "let's just see what happens if" kind of thing, but became surprisingly delicious as a crumble. The recipe is 2/3 cup almond meal, 1/3 cup coconut oil, 1/4 tsp salt, 2 Tbsp cold water, but I added flour and water as needed. This won't bind the same way without the egg, so don't expect something crispy and crunchy.

With both of these, I added cinnamon and nutmeg to the mixes to make the most of the almond taste along with the sweetness of the pies' contents. This made the Pumpkin Pie as close to perfect as I could imagine, and made the crumble for the Chocolate Pudding taste frighteningly close to graham crackers.

I'll write up the full recipes soon, I promise, but first...

I'M. GOING. TO. EAT.