Make This For Dinner Tonight!

Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Bacon

One of the yummiest dishes I made for Thanksgiving was also the easiest. My mom and sister both asked for the "recipe." Even my brother asked for it; everyone loved this dish. There were no leftovers!  I would make it again for dinner tonight, but I'm not eating bacon right now. I made an exception for Thanksgiving, but no more bacon until after my cholesterol re-test.  But all you bacon-eaters should go out right now and buy yourself a big bag of Brussels sprouts and some bacon. Make this for dinner tonight!

Note: the correct spelling is Brussels sprout, not brussel sprout. This little cabbage was named for the city of Brussels, Belgium.

Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Bacon
Ingredients:
3 or 4 slices of bacon cut into bite size pieces
4 pints (or so) of Brussels sprouts, trimmed and halved
sea salt
cracked black pepper

Preheat oven to 425.
Arrange bacon in a single layer on large rimmed baking sheet. Bake until fat is rendered from the bacon, about 5 minutes or so. Remove from the oven. Add Brussels sprouts to the pan. Using a spatula stir/toss so that the sprouts are coated with the bacon fat. Season with sea salt and cracked black pepper.  Return to the oven and roast until the Brussels sprouts are browned and tender, about 20 minutes.

Orange Cranberry Walnut Salad



Orange Cranberry Walnut Salad with Orange-Ginger Dressing

I used to make Orange Cranberry Walnut Bread every year for Thanksgiving. I would make it the morning of Thanksgiving, and when my family arrived, the comforting aroma filled the house. I served it warm from the oven with coffee. It was my own little tradition, my way of showing them love and putting my personal stamp on the holiday. Plus, let's be honest, it gave me yet another vehicle for maximizing the sugar in my diet. 

Inspired by that memory, this year I made a kale salad with oranges, cranberries, and walnuts. It was delicious and beautiful. And healthy.  Here's my recipe.

Orange Cranberry Walnut Salad

1 bunch of kale, cleaned, deveined, and chopped
3 oranges, peeled, sectioned, and chopped into bite size pieces
~1/2 cup of dried cranberries
~1/2 cup of toasted walnuts

Combine all ingredients except the walnuts in a bowl.  Drizzle with Orange-Ginger Dressing and toss to coat all the kale.  Kale leaves are hearty and stand up well to the dressing. You can toss this an hour or more before ready to serve, and it will hold up just fine. It is actually better if it sits with the dressing for a while before serving. When ready to serve, add the walnuts and toss.

Orange-Ginger Dressing
~1/3 cup of fresh-squeezed orange juice
~1/3 cup good extra virgin olive oil
~ 2 tsp fresh ginger, grated
sea salt and cracked black pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients in a jar with a tight lid. Shake well to combine.

Meatloaf

Terri requested my meatloaf recipe so I decided to post it here.  I can't really call it mine since I used the one from the new Paleo Comfort Food cookbook. (Great cookbook. Get it!) This makes a HUGE meatloaf or two normal loaves. I made two and froze one.  Here is the recipe.

Turkey Meatloaf
(from Paleo Comfort Food by Julie & Charles Mayfield)

Ingredients:
2 medium sweet onions, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp garlic powder
2 tablespoons coconut oil
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1/2 cup chicken stock
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
2 large eggs
4 pounds ground turkey (or sub whatever meat you want)
1 cup Cave Ketchup

Preheat over to 325.

Saute onions, red pepper and all spices with coconut oil over medium heat until onions become translucent, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat, and stir in tomato paste, stock, and Worcestershire sauce. Set aside to cool.

In large bowl, crack eggs over your turkey and fold in the cooled onion mixture.

Form the meat mixture into whatever shape suits your fancy, but the traditional loaf will cook evenly. Place on a sheet pan or casserole dish. No greasing required.

Pour the Cave Ketchup over the top and bake for 90 minutes. Internal temp should reach 160 degrees.


Cave Ketchup

Ingredients:
6 oz tomato paste
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1/4 tsp mustard powder
1/2 cup water
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 pinch allspice
1 pinch salt
1/8 tsp paprika
1 clove garlic
1 bay leaf

Combine all ingredients (except garlic clove and bay leaf) in a medium sized sauce pan.

Bring to a boil stirring frequently.

Add garlic clove and bay leaf (whole). Reduce heat and allow the mixture to simmer for 20-30 minutes stirring occasionally.

Watch for desired consistency. It will thicken quickly toward the end. If you overdo it, just add a tablespoon of water back to the mix.

Remove the bay leaf and garlic clove. Allow ketchup to cool.

Troubling To Say The Least

If you are health conscious at all, you have probably heard the stories in the news about how high cholesterol is becoming an issue at an earlier and earlier age. Apparently, it is showing up in children younger than ten years old, and there is talk of recommending regular cholesterol testing starting at age 9-12! I saw a story on ABC Evening News last night about a fit-looking teenage boy who is now taking statins because the dietary recommendations of low fat, high carb didn't work for him. Try as he may, he could not get his cholesterol down with diet and exercise. This was an active, lean young man. If this trend doesn't make us question conventional wisdom about nutrition and health, I don't know what will. I'm amazed how easily we embrace pharmaceutical solutions but refuse to question the failed dietary prescription. It is troubling to say the least.

I recently had my annual physical and registered improvement in fasting blood glucose, A1C, HDL, triglycerides, body weight, and other markers. But my LDL cholesterol is too high, and it has increased since last year. My doctor has been trying for a couple of years to get me on statins, but I have refused. Given this latest uptick, she was insistent. She's concerned about my health, and she is following the standard of care. I appreciate her and respect her, but I have a strong desire to correct my health issues with lifestyle changes whenever possible. I do not want to take a statin for the rest of my life. I reluctantly accepted the prescription and agreed to take it. After thinking about it for several days and studying alternative approaches, I decided against taking the statin. I can always take it later if further diet and lifestyle changes don't help, but my instincts and study tell me to pursue a different route. After reading (studying) Robb Wolf's Paleo Solution, I am convinced more than ever of the health implications and believe that I may benefit from a purist/strict implementation of Paleo. Here's what this means for me:

• No grains. I already do this with near 100% abstention. So this won't be difficult. I just won't allow myself any grain-based cheats between now and my blood test.
• No legumes. I don't eat legumes except for occasional peanuts and peanut butter. This is an easy switch to real nuts and nut butters.
• No dairy. This is one tenant of paleo that I have never embraced. After more study, I understand the reason for eliminating it, and given my health issues, I think it is a sacrifice worth trying. No more cream in my coffee; no more cottage cheese; no more cheese.
• Eat more fish (wild caught) for the omega 3's. This won't be easy for me because I'm not fond of fish and seafood. But I'm certain I can add at least two fish meals per week. I've got one week under my belt, and I ate fish twice. It didn't kill me.
• Whenever possible, eat 100% grass-fed meat (for the omega 3's). Conventional meat is high in Omega 6's because of the grain diet cattle are fed.
• No bacon or sausage or other processed meats.
• High dose Fish Oil is recommended for unhealthy and/or overweight people. I'm increasing my dose to 20ml (4tsp) per day. I had been taking just 1tsp per day.
• No vegetable oils or products containing vegetable oil (prepackaged mayo, salad dressings, etc). I don't cook with vegetable oils, but I have been using prepackaged mayo and salad dressings which of course are made from vegetable oil. Even the ones that say "Olive Oil and Balsamic" are mostly canola or other vegetable oils. The reason for eliminating the vegetable oils is to get my Omega 3 and Omega 6 fats in balance. Our modern diet is way too heavy on Omega 6's and way too light on Omega 3's.
• Eggs must be Omega 3 enriched. I'm already doing this; I switched to high quality eggs a couple of years ago when I started eating more eggs. I also plan to limit eggs to every other day.
• Emphasize vegetables over fruit especially on light exercise days.
• Get plenty of sleep in a dark room. I'm already pretty good at this, but need to make sure I'm getting to bed at a decent hour every night.
• Increase Vit-D from 1000 to 3000 IU per day.
• Decrease nut consumption to just an oz or two per day. Most nuts have a very poor ratio of omega 3 to omega 6 fats. (Walnuts have the healthiest ratio). When you overdo on nuts, you can easily throw off the ratio of omega 3 to omega 6 fats. High omega 6's in relationship to omega 3's are implicated in high LDL and insulin resistance. Plus they are high calorie and keep me from dropping weight.
• Strict compliance. This is probably the number one thing I need to do. Just be consistent and stick with it. I had gotten too lax and was allowing myself more than an occasional cheat.

So that's my plan leading up to my blood test on December 7. I implemented these changes over a week ago on November 4. That allows for more than 30 days of strict paleo, and if these changes are going to help me I should see improvement on the retest.