Thai Green Curry Chicken Soup with Zucchini Noodles

Probably my favorite use for leftover rotisserie chicken.  This was the first time I tried eating it with zucchini noodles and baby spinach.  I didn't cook the veggies at all and just let the hot broth cook everything for a few minutes.  The noodles had a perfect al dente texture this way, just the way I like it.

Another Indian-inspired Curry, with Sweet Potatos

This actually turned out pretty pretty good.  This was supposed to be a ground beef recipe but I subbed it with ground turkey.  I think I'm going to be obsessed with making curries.

Zucchini Pasta

Zucchini pasta is a replacement for my spaghetti noodles but has become its own unique dish.  It actually tastes really good sautéed briefly with butter first but mostly I'm pretty lazy and I'll zap it in the microwave for about a minute (to maintain an al dente texture) for eating with sauce.  As easy as it already is to make spaghetti, zucchini noodles are even easier because you barely have to cook it.  And it tastes awesome.

You can easily make zucchini noodles using this spiral slicer.  The prices on Amazon fluctuate and I waited until this was about $25 or so before I bought it.  In the mean time, a cheap (and not as good) method is to use a julienne peeler.  I picked up this same set for $5 at my local TJ Maxx at one point.  But now I mostly use my spiral slicer because the noodles come out so much longer. 

Comfort food

Brown Cow full-fat plain yogurt, fresh bananas and raspberries topped with some honey.

Sometimes, I just want something sweet, which I can only have very sparingly when I'm doing low-carb.  I checked my food log, figured out how many carbs I had left and figured out how much of this I could eat.  Sometimes, I'll even plan on eating something extra carby and eat a lot less carbs earlier in the day so I can have a treat at the end of the night.  Most people probably aren't going to do this, but I'm kind of having fun logging all my food.  If you're trying to lose weight, it might help a lot in the beginning to really stick with logging your food and amounts you're eating.

Low-carb lunch

Baby spinach, cottage cheese, sardines, cherry tomatos

(Mostly) Gluten-free 2014 :)

Venison burger, mashed sweet potato and broiled asparagus.

Paleo Keema Kari

I'm usually not that into Indian food but I really liked this.  This is actually a ground beef recipe but I subbed it with ground venison.

Garden bonuses

Came back from my trip to some surprises!  Didn't think my eggplant was really growing but I managed to get a few.  :)

Garlic fried chicken, beet greens and mashed kohlrabi

Crockpot roast chicken

Before

 After

With farmer's market carrots and onions, and roasted beets from the garden! :)  Unfortunately, I forgot to broil it for a few minutes to give it a nice brown on top.

Bun-less burger with sautéed greens

Topped with avocado, tomatoes, mushrooms, sprouts and shredded cheese.  If you like condiments, ranch dressing is perfect.

A "Junk Food" Breakfast

All those years of being taught what's healthy for you?  Throw that out the window.  I indulged in what I now consider an "unhealthy" breakfast comprised almost entirely of carbs.

Toast with homemade coconut butter (which is delicious) and fruit.  Conventional wisdom says this is healthy and good for you.  Paleo and other low-carb philosophies say, this is crap.

But every now and then, this is just what I feel like eating.  And that's okay.  This bread also wasn't gluten-free, which is bad too.  But for whatever reason, this company's bread doesn't make me react funny (most affordable at Costco).

Of course, that all being said, this is still healthier than eating a packet of Pop-Tarts, which I did do back in the day.  It's amazing how my views have changed since learning about paleo and low-carb.  Sugar (in most forms) is the enemy, not fat.

Breakfast Leftovers

Last night's leftovers on top of an egg.  Leftovers = awesome.

Balsamic Glazed Chicken with Roasted Tomatoes and Sautéed Greens

Homemade roasted tomatoes and kale greens from my garden.

Cream cheese pancakes with bananas

Who knew pancakes made from only cream cheese and eggs could be so delicious?  This particular batch I think I might have added whey protein powder too, which helped hold it together better.

"Roasted" chicken with onions, apples and sweet potatos and roasted squash

This may be my first ever roasted whole chicken.  Actually, I "roasted" this in the crockpot and then broiled it in the oven for a few minutes.  The meat came out nicely done.  I was in a hurry though, so I cooked it on high.  If I had planned it better, I could have cooked it on low for a little longer and the meat probably would have been more tender.  Regardless, it wasn't overcooked/dry and it was delicious!  This was a pretty impromptu recipe I went with, basically cooking what we had at the house.  I was pretty proud of myself.  ;)

Roasted squash (winter squash of some type) that my sis-in-law had left at our house since Christmas.  B almost threw it out (what?!) and I put it to good use.  Roasted winter squash is YUM.  I want to roast kabocha squash, where the skin is actually edible.

A serving of our dinner.  :)

Grain-free waffle with scrambled eggs and salsa

I've been making waffles like crazy (got a waffle iron for Christmas!), trying to find the perfect grain-free recipe.  I have yet to get it right.  :(  They are still good though.

Grain-free waffle with yogurt and fruit

Grain-free waffle topped with plain yogurt, fruit and molasses.  Yum!  :)

Grain-free waffle with fried eggs and sausages

Grain-free waffle topped with fried eggs, smoked mozzarella and salsa.  We're working on a lot of sausages from a Costco sized purchase.  ;)

Pork chops with apples over cabbage and veggie fries

This was kind of an impromptu recipe made with what I had in the kitchen.  We've had some old Napa cabbage, carrots, parsnips and apples in the fridge.  Those are what became dinner.