Ranch Dressing

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup unsalted cashews, soaked overnight & drained
• 1 cup coconut milk
• 1 lemon, juiced
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
• 1 tbl fresh chopped chives OR basil leaves
• Optional: If using fresh chives, add 1/2 tsp dried dill weed. Omit if using fresh basil

Instructions

1. In a mini food processor, use the "grind" setting to reduce the cashews to a fine / sand-like texture, then use the normal setting to get a paste-like, spreadable texture.
2. Begin to add the coconut milk a tablespoon at a time, scraping the sides down when needed, and blend until you have a smooth paste. This will take several minutes. Once the mixture is smooth, add the rest of the coconut milk and the lemon juice, then blend to combine.
3. Add the seasonings and fresh herbs and blend until combined / smooth.

Walk to Madrid

Our walking team this year.... 

Chicken with mushroom sauce

Ingredients

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts;

1 medium shallot, minced;

1 cup of mushrooms, thinly sliced;

2 tbsp. fresh chives, minced;

½ cup of chicken stock;

4 tbsp. full-fat coconut milk;

1 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil;

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste;

Preparation

Preheat your oven to 350 F.

Place the chicken breast in a casserole dish and bake for 30 to 40 minutes.

When the chicken is almost done, heat the oil in a skillet over a medium heat.

Add the shallots to the skillet and cook about 30 seconds, then add the mushrooms and cook until tender, about 2 to 3 minutes.

Pour in the broth and cook for around 2 minutes.

Stir in the coconut milk and chives. Bring to a simmer and cook for 1 minute.

Once the chicken is done, cover it with the mushroom sauce and serve.

All American 5K 2013

I ran this on my own, first time ever.  It was in the 70s and very humid/raining, but I got a really good time.  I did better than I thought I was doing, but now I really wish I could get under 30 mins!!!

Walk to Madrid

The SLU Walk to Madrid program started on Monday. I am the team captain again this year. I usually do pretty well with increasing how much I walk when I'm doing this program and it's the first step that got me trying to increase my exercise in general.

I decided that I'd take this 8 week period to try to exercise regularly and eat correctly.  However, I forgot about the fact that we have 2 birthdays this week and Greta will be leaving on Sunday.  After eating terribly last night (Maggie's birthday) I realized I hadn't posted any pictures of paleo meals I have made recently.

I made this shrimp the other weekend.  We were going to barbecue it, but it started pouring with rain so I had to cook it on the stove.  Surprisingly, everyone loved it and ate all of it!!!

Ben has been asking me to make his favourite dinner for quite a while.  He loves it, but Maggie hates it!!!

I made this zucchini salad for a barbecue for the exchange students.  It was great, I will definitely make it again

These paleo deviled eggs are delicious!!!

This mango curry is one of my favourite things to eat-I bought some mangoes at the Soulard farmers' market just so I could make it

After all the clean eating, Maggie wanted pizza and my chocolate cake for dinner.  So much for my intentions to eat well all week....