Caveman Salad

Here is how our Paleolithic/Caveman ancestors assembles their salads:

Spring greens, avocados, grape halves, olives, walnuts, diced red bell pepper, salmon, dab of mayo, dablets of Sriracha  hot chili sauce

And I'm pretty sure this is how
they made their pumpkin pie:

Notice that there is a rather large piece missing.  I tried to take a picture of the whole pie but I had to fight my way in there so by the time I could snap the photo this was all that remained.
As you might gather, no one in our household seems to be suffering with this adjustment to our diets.  Just to remind you what we are doing, we have removed processed food, grains, legumes, and dairy (for the most part, but more on that later).  So we eat meat, seafood, eggs, fruits, veggies, nuts (but not peanuts), seeds, and healthy oils.

It's easy to imagine a salad coming together under those guidelines, but the pie took some creativity.
For the crust, I spread about a cup of unsweetened shredded coconut on the bottom of the pie tin and up the sides as much as I could.  I made the pumpkin custard more or less the traditional way but with two main differences: no dairy, and no sugar.

Rather than milk, I substituted canned coconut milk (the really thick, rich kind).  Instead of sugar, I used about 3/4 cup Organic Blue Agave Syrup (this was for filling for two pies).  In addition to being an unprocessed plant product, Agave syrup has a really low glycemic index.  This means it doesn't spike your blood sugar like other sugars do.  It's that spike in blood sugar that releases insulin, and insulin that makes you pack on fat.

The pies, kind of surprisingly, tasted like heaven.  I suppose they would keep well when refrigerated, but they weren't around long enough to find out.

I'm having a lot of fun taking the "bad" stuff out of good recipes and finding out what happens.
Here is an experiment that went over as big as the pumpkin pie:

Seafood and sausage stuffed red bell peppers with mild Italian sausage, swai, celery, onions, minced garlic, cilantro, hemp hearts, shredded cheddar*, and seasoning

This recipe called for milk and breadcrumbs.  Instead, I used that same coconut milk and some delicious little hulled seeds called Hemp Hearts, which you can buy at Costco or health food stores:

They taste for all the world like ground pine nuts, and have a soft texture that melts in your mouth without crunch. I put them in or on everything within reason.  Here is how they look out of the bag:

Hemp Hearts--so yummy!

They're crazy high in Omega oils, so you can't eat too many.

Now about the dairy.  Here is why there is that asterisk* by the cheddar cheese listed under the stuffed peppers:

Dr. Oz has suggested that people trying to get rid of their belly fat eat an ounce of cheese at every meal.  I'm not entirely sure why, but it stands to reason that it would help balance insulin levels.  When I was in home healthcare, I know many of my diabetic patients were counseled to eat cheese as a snack to help keep their insulin levels stable.  Works for me, so that is the main way we are deviating from the hardcore, knuckle-dragging and club-wielding version of the Paleo diet. Plus, I will eat sausage or bacon now and then, which you could argue is a "processed" food.  But I wouldn't listen if you did ;0)

In addition, Dr. Oz recommends daily Garcinia Cambogia supplements,
(See Dr. Oz's video about Garcinia Cambogia here:
Dr. Oz Garcinia Cambogia)
which I have been taking faithfully for the past week while I have been eating the Paleo/Caveman way.

While implementing these changes, I have eaten exactly how much I have wanted, when I wanted, with no thought to counting calories or limiting portions.  I eat until I am satisfied, and stop before I'm stuffed.
The final verdict is how I feel, and how much weight I've lost.  I feel better than I have in months, and this past week I have lost a total of (drumroll)...

SEVEN AND A HALF POUNDS.

Just FYI, I am also doing very moderate cardio but just started adding free weights to the mix yesterday.

This may not be for everyone, but boy am I glad I got with the Paleo program!

Inspiring photographs that made me LOL

I KNOW you're gonna love these!

Click HERE for some weird, wild, wacky stuff :0)

Pumpkin Bread, Kristi Style

The Finished Product

 

 

Sure you can find a recipe and follow it to the letter, but how boring!  Where is the adventure in that?

Here is how you make pumpkin bread the sporting way:

For starters, I recommend making this in someone else's kitchen if you have the opportunity.  This makes it more like one of those reality cooking competitions where you don't know what you've got to work with until the last minute.

If you can help it, don't look around too much in the cupboards beforehand.  There is probably flour or a flour like substance around.  In my case, I got by with pancake mix and some leftover blueberry muffin mix.

Now, quickly glance through a few online recipes to get the general gist of what should go into the batter.  One thing I already knew I would need for pumpkin bread: pumpkin.

I knew I would also need eggs so I bought those at the store along with the pumpkin.  I was pretty sure there was oil and sugar in the house, and I figured everything else I needed would either be available or improvised.  For me, that is the best part of cooking--seeing what the recipe evolves into based on what I discover in the kitchen.

Preheat the oven to whatever feels right.  In this case, 350 degrees seemed like a safe bet.  Find whatever cooking pans you are going to bake the bread in.  I found a small disposable loaf pan and a muffin tin.  Make sure to grease them before you put the batter in.

Start by dumping the flour or flour-esque ingredients into a mixing bowl.  Since I started with pancake and muffin mix, I didn't need to add leavening.  But if you're using plain flour, add around a teaspoon each of baking powder and baking soda.

Now start adding the pumpkin, and see what else is around to throw in there.  I found applesauce and several pumpkin-friendly spices like ginger, clove, nutmeg, and cinnamon.  Don't bother measuring any of this.  Use your sense of smell to gauge how the batter is coming along.  When it smells yummy, taste it a bit to see what else is needed.  Of course you're going to need loads of sugar, and a bit of salt.  I also added chopped walnuts because I had some handy.  I thought about adding raisins, too, but somehow this felt wrong.  I then mixed in three eggs, because that was what was left in the carton that was already in the fridge before I bought more.  Then I added some oil and mixed it all up to make sure it wasn't too dry or too wet.  It was perfect, smelled amazing, and had a nice orange pumpkin-y color.

If you're eager to take a sneak peak at how your batter will bake up, you can try my little trick:  Put about a quarter cup of batter in a coffee cup and microwave it for about one minute.  This will give you a general idea of how the flavors will bake together and how the consistency will be when done.  Plus, you get to enjoy a great snack :) When I did this, I discovered the batter still needed a bit more sugar, which I dumped in liberally.  After the second coffee cup test, I could tell I had it right and was ready to bake. 

I don't usually time things, but again I use my sense of smell to determine when things are getting close to done.  When the kitchen started smelling like a bakery, I used the toothpick test to determine that the muffins were done.  I could see that the loaf, however, was still gooey in the middle so that was left to bake a bit longer.  I will probably check it again in about 15 minutes unless things start to smell too cooked and take it out before that.

The muffins are cooling now, and I'm finishing my coffee cup of pumpkin bread.  That, my friends, is how I usually whip something up in the kitchen--Kristi style :0)

Tomorrow I start my Paleo diet, so I'll be sharing some of my kitchen adventures with that, too.

Un Plato de Nirvana

Not this kind of Nirvana...

THIS kind...

 

Oh. My. Heavens.

 

No need for a to go box this day.  My plateful of bliss was provided by chef Susana Davila of Café Poca Cosa, possibly the coolest place I have ever eaten.

 

 

 

When I say cool, I mean elegant, trendy, and too hip for a menu.  Rather, the wait staff come by with a handwritten chalkboard listing the available fare.  This isn't a conceit, but a necessity.  Chef Davila isn't constrained by a menu but rather flows with her imagination and what ingredients are currently available and of the highest quality.  Therefore, the chalkboard needs to be updated every two hours or so.

Our server recounted the ins and outs of each menu item with an almost surgical knowledge of ingredients, preparation methods, and other unique features without coming across as unctuous or snooty.  In short, she was really selling it.

And we were buying it.  My girlfriends and I each went for the famous Plato Poca Cosa.  This offering is legendary: Three surprise entrees of the chef's choosing arranged as beautifully as any floral bouquet.  Each of us had a uniquely crafted plate with completely unique entrees.  Here was mine:

 

Starting a 6 o'clock you have a perfectly seasoned shredded beef taco in a handmade corn shell baked in roasted salsas and topped with fresh pico de gallo.  In the center you have a delicious salad of spring greens and shredded beets garnished with a fresh pineapple wedge.  At 12 o'clock is my favorite entrée because it was so surprising: a sweet corn masa tamale pie garnished with stewed plums.  Incredibly delicious and rich.  Then rounding out the plate at 4 o'clock you have a melt-in-your-mouth breast of chicken in a hearty red mole sauce.

 

Dang, Chef Davila.  I wanted to kiss her by the time I was finished.

 

So if you come to Tucson to visit me, you know where I'm taking you for lunch!

Get Your Graham Cooke On!

Have you heard of Graham Cooke?  I hadn't either, until some friends loaned me some of his CDs a few years back.

I am not one to get overly excited about preaching, and certainly not about preachers as a group.  There are very fine ones out there (T.D. Jakes is a particular favorite), but I'm not going to hang a poster of them in my bedroom or anything. I never have understood that kind of star-struck hysteria anyway.  For example, I deeply appreciate the work and talent of Paul Giamatti (my favorite actor), but if I passed him on the street in Tucson I doubt I'd do anything stupid to embarrass myself.  At least not  beyond my usual stupid when walking down the street, like smacking into a lamp post or falling into a hole (I have done both in Tucson, FYI) .

But there is this one guy--this Graham Cooke--that just so nails it for me.  The regard I have for him helps me better understand why some people form fan clubs, or why some guitarists can idolize a great musician like Hendrix.  Somehow, almost miraculously, this one preacher seems to bring Heaven down to earth for me.  I'll admit it, I'm a fan.

Here is just the latest in a long series of things Graham Cooke posts, publishes, or preaches that make me a little giddy:

"Faith does not procrastinate. We never look at what we are stepping onto or into with faith. We look at the nature of the permission. What God permits, He supports us in."

Why is that so exciting?  Well, for one thing it hits home with the current situation I have put myself in.  But it also lines up so perfectly with some of the cool stuff God is highlighting for me when I'm reading the Bible lately.

For example, here is an excerpt from Luke chapter 1...

²⁸ The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”
²⁹ Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. ³⁰ But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. ³¹ You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. ³² He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, ³³ and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”
³⁴ “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”
³⁵ The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called^[b] the Son of God. ³⁶ Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. ³⁷ For no word from God will ever fail.”

Except when I read it yesterday, it actually looked more like this...

²⁸ The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”
²⁹ Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. ³⁰ But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. ³¹ You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. ³² He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, ³³ and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”
³⁴ “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”
³⁵ The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called^[b] the Son of God. ³⁶ Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. ³⁷ For no word from God will ever fail.”

It was as if God was shouting those words at me, as if they were on fire, and they settled in my heart as I read them like burning embers.

You have to admit that what Gabriel is announcing here could sound pretty outlandish.  And yet, because it came directly from the One who sits on the throne in Heaven, it was a done deal.  You could take it to the bank, rest assured it would come about as promised.  Cousin Elizabeth was clearly a woman too old to even consider having a baby, and yet she was six months pregnant when Gabriel speaks with Mary.  He shares this, it seems, to help bolster Mary's faith.  It's as if he's saying "I know what I just told you might be hard to digest, but your elderly cousin Elizabeth is six months pregnant, so here's your proof that if God says it's gonna happen, it's gonna happen!" 

Are there promises God has made to you?  Maybe it's a promise from scripture ("If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you." is one I rely on. A lot.), or a maybe it's a prophetic word someone prayed over you, or something God seemed to be saying to you directly, through whatever means.

The principle God seems to be driving home lately is that, if He says it/promises it/tells you to go do it, you should definitely get on it!

I was thinking these things over shortly before I turned to the book of Luke and read those flaming words.  I feel great, great joy over that right now, because God has said some pretty cool stuff! 

I know that people make mistakes.  I know you can misapply a Biblical promise, or that even a well-intentioned, well-seasoned prayer warrior can get it wrong when they say they have a "word" for you.  But there are times when you know that it's God.  I mean, you KNOW.  So when you know in your knower like that, don't ever start to question whether or not God really meant it, or whether He will really come through.  Not for a second.  Zechariah starts to question God earlier in this same passage from Luke, and apparently Gabriel found that pretty irritating.

As Graham Cooke seems to be saying, it doesn't really require faith to step out and trust God, once you know what it is that God is telling you to do, and that it is indeed Him telling you to do it.  And, if you watch the Graham Cooke video featured in the link below, he also seems to be saying that if you make a mistake as you're trying to follow God, don't worry about it!  He's got you covered, so go for it!

So if you know you've got a promise from God, Yay!  Or if you know God is guiding you to take action, Yay!  You can take it in full assurance, because He is supporting you all the way. 

As Graham Cooke often says, God is brilliant, eh?

Get your Graham Cooke on here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYNVH-cR9lQ
and find out more here:
http://grahamcooke.com/

or check out some really fine preaching here:
http://www.lightsource.com/ministry/the-potters-house/video-player/work-your-faith-part-1-370391.html
(You GO Bishop Jakes!)

BEST. INTERVIEW. EVER.

Have you ever had the feeling of being in absolutely the right place at the right time?  That's how I felt about my interview with Juanita today, which was hands down the best interview experience I'd ever had--painless, efficient, quick, fun, and affirming.  Best of all, looks like I got a job out of the deal.

It is not a dental hygiene job, but because of the hours it will allow me to continue looking for the right dental hygiene job.  Plus, it's for the Red Cross, which is an organization I can be proud to have a part in.  The pay is about the same as what I was making in Boise, and it looks like I will start next Monday.

So good job clapping everyone!

I wanted to include a few photos of the building where I had my interview.  I have never seen a building with a built-in waterslide before ;)  One of the many things I love about southern Arizona is some of the unique architecture.

Thanks again for all of the support and good wishes.  Have a great weekend ahead!

I loved that none of the offices in this building could be entered from the parking lot.  You had to enter from the central plaza, where there were trees, ponds, and fountains.  So beautiful, but so sunny it was hard to take a decent picture (highs in the low- to mid-80s this week, btw :0)

Apache 8

Meet some of my new heroes, the firefighters of the all-female crew Apache 8...

<iframe width="512" height="376" src="http://video.pbs.org/viralplayer/2006599346" frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" seamless></iframe>

Clap Real Hard

"‘If you believe’, he shouted to them, ‘clap your hands; don’t let Tink die.’

Some clapped.

Some didn’t.

A few little beasts hissed.

The clapping stopped suddenly....but already Tink was saved... (Peter Pan by JM Barrie (first published in 1911, by Hodder & Stoughton)).


My favorite thing about the above quote (other than the Tinkerbell reference) is the source.  It's featured in the Macquarie Law Journal (2004) Vol. 4 and is taken from an article titled:

THE RULE OF LAW AND THE TINKERBELL EFFECT: THEORETICAL CONSIDERATIONS, CRITICISMS AND JUSTIFICATIONS FOR THE RULE OF LAW

 



 which I provide a link to here: http://www.law.mq.edu.au/public/download/?id=16217

because it's some decent reading.

 

I mean this article has everything you could want in a gripping legal treatise (or bed time story)--Tinkerbell, feminists, Marxists, Nazis, and Hayekian obsession with the evils of the welfare state.

The author's conclusion, however, is what I would like to draw your attention to since it supports my personal conviction that everyone needs to Clap Real Hard.  For me.  Because this Tinkerbell will very shortly have a real live job interview.

At 8:30 a.m. tomorrow morning, Thursday November 7, I will meet with the person that may hold the key to my future (however lengthy or brief) in Arizona.  If enough of my family and friends believe firmly enough that I do have a job, and clap real hard, then there is legal precedence that your support and enthusiasm will alter the quantum state of possibility into the tangible fabric of reality.

Or at least, as the author of the legal article concludes,
"I have argued that we should try to believe in it because like Tinkerbell, if we believe enough it might become real."

Of course I realize you know I'm totally kidding, but I appreciate all the prayers, good wishes, and positive vibes you could aim my direction.

Thanks, and I'll let you know what happens.

Sweet Ride

This would be the perfect next car for me.  I'm thinking Internet Squirrel in Old English lettering across the rear window.

Hungry Like a Hunter-Gatherer

If you are reading this, then you are someone who knows me well, and you know that I have struggled to keep myself at a healthy weight.  And I'm sure you also know as I do that the real solution isn't aggressive dieting and killer workouts but rather staying consistent with a healthy eating plan and moderate exercise.  A while ago, I had some real success with juicing after I was inspired by watching Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead--a movie which chronicles a man's journey back to health through juicing (You can watch the movie for free here: http://www.rebootwithjoe.com/watch-fat-sick-and-nearly-dead/. )
But that was over a year ago.

In May, I left the more active field of health care for an EXTREMELY sedentary job at a call center.  I was less active than the average slug for eight hours a day, then add stress and little time for healthy eating and you wind up with a very effortless twenty pound weight gain. While man cannot live on juice alone, it is a great boost for cleansing your body--a kind of reset button for your system.  For which I have been long overdue. Tonight completes the second day of what I plan to be a modest four-day juice fast.  After that ended, though, I wasn't sure what I would do.

Earlier this evening while I was cruising around YouTube looking at some cooking videos (a dangerous thing to do when juice fasting!), I saw a lot of videos for recipes from the Paleo Diet.  I was reminded of the experimenting Romney and I had done with that eating plan, and how great the food tasted.

The basic premise of the Paleo Diet is that, prior to agriculture, our hunter-gatherer ancestors ate much differently and were much healthier for it.  Regardless of whether or not you buy into that premise, I remember that Romney and I did very well eating like cavemen.  There are no grains, dairy, refined carbohydrates or processed foods of any kind on the Paleo Diet--just meats, eggs, fruits, veggies, nuts, and healthy oils.  I was surprised by how delicious and varied the meals could be with that many restrictions, and I had never enjoyed food more or felt better.

I don't think we stayed on the program too long, though, because the major downside to that eating plan is time.  It takes more time to prepare, cook, and sometimes even eat this healthier food.  Extra time was in short supply once I took my call center job, and Romney became very busy around the same time.

So I drifted back into less healthy eating habits, and back into my size 12 pants :/
This is all coming into focus with the clear-headed vision that getting REALLY hungry can give you.  So with juice-induced conviction I have decided to commit once again to the Paleo Diet.  I have more time at the moment to plan and prepare so that when I do get busy once again, I will have a system in place so I can keep with the program.

I will let you know how it goes!

If you want to learn more about the Paleo Diet, follow this link:
http://thepaleodiet.com/

And you can find lots of great recipes and cooking tips on YouTube if you search Paleo Diet or Paleo cooking.

Drifting, but not adrift

“…Not all those who wander are lost…” 

This line from JRR Tolkein's poem All That is Gold Does Not Glitter is referenced many places--usually in tribute to those who may appear to be adrift but are living with intention.  Two cases of this kind of purposeful wandering have come together in my mind as a surprising parallel: the Israelites wandering through the Sinai desert, and the monarch butterflies on their migratory route through North America. 

People have taken a lot of time to carefully plot each of these group's "wanderings," and if you take the time to Google these maps you'll see how complicated each respective route is--to the point of seeming random.  I take encouragement from this, because to the casual observer (and often enough to myself), my own wanderings can look pretty haphazard.  Here's the thing, though: no journey, no matter how rambling, is truly "wandering" if you're being led. 

The Israelites of course were being led by a pillar of cloud by day and fire by night.  It told them when to pack up and go and when to make camp and stay during their 40-year sojourn.  As for the monarchs, they are guided solely by instinct.  Yet, this instinct is enough to keep them on a rather intricate path with clocklike regularity.  Interestingly, they never get to see the full route from start to finish the way we can by searching Google for a map.  Each individual monarch only completes one small leg of the journey.  Their lifespan is not long enough to see a completion of the route.  One dies and another takes its place along the way, not unlike handing off the baton in a relay race.  Somehow the course is maintained and each successive generation fulfills its role in the journey that spans several monarch lifetimes.  Likewise, the Israelites' journey to the Promised Land spanned a couple of generations, and most who started out didn't make it through to the end.  I draw an odd sort of comfort from this because, like an ancient Israelite or migrating butterfly, I can't see the whole course mapped out ahead.  The Big Picture is just too big for me.  Often it looks like I am running in circles, sometimes literally with my treks up and down the western deserts--from sagebrush to saguaro and back again. 

And again. 

But in spite of all appearances, this wandering is with intention.  The intent is to be truly led, but it isn’t always easy to discern how well I’m following.  For me, it's been a sort of mixture: at times of feeling undeniably led by God as the Israelites were, and at other times of following my heart's quirky, compelling desires as the monarch butterflies might feel compelled.  So while I'm definitely a kind of drifter, and sometimes puzzled by it all, I don't believe I'm adrift.  While I can't see where it's all going, I think it's mostly about the journey anyway.  And the journey for me seems to be mostly about trust, and being willing to let go of what's behind to walk blindly into the next adventure.  Because while I can't see, I believe there is One who does.  He knows the beginning, the end, and all the middle parts of this story.  That's what I'm doing here in Arizona again--following His lead to find my place in the story.  And if I get off track (as I sometimes do), He knows how to plot a new course. 

Ostensibly I'm here in Arizona to try to retain my career as a dental hygienist.  I might succeed, or I might not, but at any rate that's my heart's desire part of the equation.  The other part of the equation was seeing a multitude of doors open in answer to prayer for direct guidance.  This was my pillar of cloud and fire.  And while I'm doing my best to follow The Way (El Camino en español), I want to keep this journal of sorts as a way to mark out the trail and see what can be discovered in so doing.  Moreover, I want to hear your comments and observations because I hope to make this blog more like a conversation than just me blathering on.  I don’t quite know where I’m going, but I hope to keep in touch with everyone along the way J

Thanks for being here, and may you be truly blessed <3