Chopped Tuna Salad

• 2 (6 oz) cans wild caught tuna in water, drained
• 1 large head romaine lettuce, chopped
• 2 celery stalks, finely chopped
• 1/2 red onion, finely chopped
• 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
• 3 tbsp fresh lemon juice
• 1 clove garlic, minced or 1/8 tsp garlic powder
• Sea salt & freshly ground black pepper to taste

• In a large bowl combine tuna, lettuce, celery, and red onion.
• In a separate bowl whisk together olive oil, Dijon mustard, lemon juice, garlic, and season to taste with salt and pepper.
• Drizzle salad with vinaigrette and toss until well mixed.

Balsamic Onion and Spinach Omelet

• 8 eggs
• 1 large yellow onion, roughly chopped
• 4 cups fresh spinach, or 8 oz frozen, thawed, squeezed dry
• 2 tbsp cooking fat (i.e. ghee or olive oil), plus more for cooking omelets
• 1 ½ tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 4 tbsp water
• Sea salt to taste

• In medium size skillet heat 2 tbsp of cooking fat over medium high heat.
• Add chopped onions and cook until slightly golden, about 5-10 minutes, stirring often so the onions do not burn.
• Turn down to low heat and stir in balsamic vinegar and salt to taste.
• Add the spinach leaves until they just start to wilt. If using frozen spinach, leave the spinach in the pan long enough to warm it up.
• Remove the onions and spinach from the pan and set aside.
• In a separate bowl whisk together 2 eggs and 1tbsp of water until the yolk and whites are blended.
• Re-heat the same skillet used for the onion and spinach over medium heat with 1 tbsp cooking fat.
• Pour eggs into heated skillet making sure to coat the entire pan, use a spatula to stir the omelet gently while it cooks to allow uncooked parts to run underneath.
• When the omelet is set fill ½ of the omelet with a ¼ of the onion spinach mixture, fold the other half of the omelet over the filling, cook for another minute.
• Remove from heat and slide on to a plate.
• Repeat the process with remaining ingredients.

Half marathon training.......

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