Slow cooker lamb curry

INGREDIENTS

1 lb bone-in lamb shoulder

1 small onion, about 1 cup, roughly chopped

3 garlic cloves, about 1 tbsp minced

2 slices fresh ginger (about 1/4 inch thick each)

1 can coconut milk (13 oz)

1/8 cup rice vinegar

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1 tsp curry powder

1/2 tsp ground coriander

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp whole mustard seeds

1/4 tsp ground turmeric

1/4 tsp ground black pepper

1/8 tsp ground cloves

1/8 tsp ground cinnamon

1/8 tsp cayenne pepper

fresh cilantro for garnish

Break lamb into smaller pieces

Place other ingredients in slow cooker

Add lamb

Cook for 6 hours

Slow cooked Moroccan chicken

INGREDIENTS

• 1 14 oz can of Tomato Sauce
• ⅓ cup of Apricot Puree or Jam
• Juice of 1 small Lemon
• 1 teaspoon of Cumin
• 1 teaspoon of ground Ginger
• 1 teaspoon of Salt
• ½ teaspoon of Sweet Paprika
• 4 lbs of Chicken Thighs
• 2 Yellow Onions, sliced
• 3 Garlic Cloves, minced
• 1 Tablespoon of Fresh Grated Ginger
• 3 Cinnamon Sticks
• ⅓ cup of Almond Butter
• 1-2 cups of Water
• 3 Tablespoons of Cooking Fat (coconut oil, ghee, or lard)

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Combine the tomato sauce, apricot, lemon juice, cumin, ground ginger, salt, and paprika into a bowl and mix.
2. Heat a frying pan to medium high and add 2 tablespoons of cooking fat.
3. Pat dry the chicken and add to the pan. Cook about 3-4 minutes on each side.
4. Transfer the chicken into the crock pot.
5. Add the onions, garlic, and ginger to the pan and cook until barely translucent (about 2 minutes), add more cooking fat if necessary. Transfer to the crock pot.
6. Turn off the heat for the frying pan and add the sauce mixture to the frying pan, deglazing the brown bits.
7. Mix in 1 cup of water and almond butter to the sauce.
8. Pour the contents into the crock pot and add the cinnamon sticks.
9. Add more water to barely cover the meat.
10. Cover and cook on low for at least 6 hours.

2015-will this be a good year?

I just read the first entry on this blog.  I started it right after my first Whole30 with Leeny.  I had written that I hoped I could keep up the paleo lifestyle.  Since then, I have gone back and forth on it.  I've tried complete strictness, something I think I can stay with, cutting out grains and keeping dairy, etc.  My weight has gone up and down like never before.  I need to try to stick to a program I can live with indefinitely, and not go on and off exercising.  In 2015, my goal is to get down to the weight I want to and to do some exercise every day.  The next Whole Life Challenge starts soon, I'm going to try to start getting ready for it from today.  I want to lose 12 or 13 lbs.  I have been at that weight before, but only when I was doing crossfit a lot.  This will be quite a challenge
My blog entries also went down to 1/3 in 2014 over 2013 and 2012.  I need to do better with that too

Commitment Day 2015-January run

Commitment Day run 2015.  It was 26 this morning and we really wondered what on earth we were doing.  It was a hard run and I walked a lot of the way, so I was surprised that I ran in 33:06.  I thought it was more like 36 or 37 minutes!!!!   Good start to the year

Candied gingerbread Bundt cake

Candied Gingerbread Bundt

• 1¼ cup unsalted butter
• ½ cup water
• 1¼ cup molasses (not blackstrap)
• ¾ cup local honey
• 1 cup light brown sugar, tightly packed
• ¾ tsp kosher salt
• ½ orange, zested
• 2 Tbsp candied ginger, minced
• 3 cups all-purpose, unbleached flour
• 1½ tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp ground cardamom
• ½ tsp ground allspice
• ½ tsp ground nutmeg
• ¼ tsp ground clove
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 3 whole eggs
• ½ cup milk, whole or 2 percent

Dark & Stormy Glaze

• 1 lb powdered sugar
• ½ lime, juiced
• 2 Tbsp dark rum
• 2 Tbsp ginger beer or ginger ale
• fresh whipped cream, for serving

| Preparation – Bundt | Preheat oven to 375ºF and grease bundt pan.

In a large bowl set over a pot of simmering water, warm butter, water, molasses, honey, brown sugar, salt, orange zest and candied ginger just until the butter and brown sugar have dissolved into the mix. Set aside to cool to room temperature.

Sift dry ingredients together in a separate bowl or over parchment paper. Whisk eggs and milk into the liquid mixture, then sift the dry a second time on top of the batter in 3 batches, whisking well in between. Pour into prepared bundt pan and bake for 1½ hours until the top of the cake springs back when pressed gently. Allow to cool in the pan for 15 minutes, but not completely before overturning onto a platter to cool for 1 hour or overnight before glazing.

| Preparation – Glaze | If powdered sugar is lumpy, sift it first. Otherwise, whisk all ingredients together right before use.

| Assembly | Once bundt cake has cooled, pour glaze over top and then leave to sit at room temperature for 30 minutes to firm. Serve with fresh whipped cream.

Hot Chocolate Run

Molly and I did the Hot Chocolate Run.  It's a huge run , but is a lot of fun.  I did it will Anne last year, but she didn't make it this year.  There were 9 thousand people registered.  This is our before picture standing in front of the start

We were in the 4th wave of runners, so we were standing around for a while. I loved the marshmallows

The weather was perfect and the run was very easy.  It's so much easier when you set out know you are going to walk and run.  I must admit there was no way I wanted to eat chocolate after just running, so I brought my winners bowl home with me.  We finished in 37:21

We parked near Scottrade Center, so I got this cake on the way back to the car

MidCounty YMCA Reindeer Dash-Our December run

We ran the Reindeer Dash 5 k this morning.  It was a benefit for the MidCounty YMCA.  It wasn't timed, but I ran in 33:05, which was really good seeing as it was very hilly.  Sam and I both won our age categories, we left before they announced the awards, but luckily someone we knew was there that told us we won!!!!