Chicago bound and Classic Chuck Roast with Veggies

Guess where I am!? Damn, my title gave me away- yes, Chicago!!! It has been an excellent weekend thus far and so much left to do! Plus I'm with the most amazing girls ever, my friends Libby and Kara! I'm telling you, Ken is lucky Gods plan included us all being female and not lesbians because if it had I would have found my soul mates long before meeting Ken and yes... We would be a weird little lesbian Mormon group I suppose. They are both dirty joke/story telling, sarcasm driven, wickedly funny and utterly sweet- so yes the epitome of a good time! So of course this weekend will be epic, how could it not!

I've got to let you down though, I cheated on my detox yesterday.... And I plan to drink beer (just 1 or 2) for the next two days. I'm not sorry, because I had planned ahead of time to cheat this weekend. This is my first time in Chicago and the first time since February I've seen Kara, so it called for a cheat. I almost didn't start the detox because I knew I was visiting Kara, but then I decided that no one is going to come beat me for not doing it exactly as intended; basically, I'm saying this is my choice and I can make of it what I want. I will say this though, the non-paleo foods I consumed yesterday included 2 cookies, some rice at an indian food restaurant, and 2 beers- my stomach did not like me and it RUINED my "I feel skinny" day (and let's be honest, how rare are those for any woman)! Bummer. Now, I'm going to go running with the girls today and feel like crap! And hey, I deserve that. So, the rest of the weekend is dedicated to eating good but cheating here and there with a few beers.

Let's get down to what you really want though. Here's an easy crockpot recipe for you. I made it last week:

Crockpot Roast and Veggies

For the roast:
3 lb Chuck Roast
2 tablespoons coconut oil (rough estimate)
1 package of baby bella sliced mushrooms
1 large sweet onion
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon basil
1/2 tablespoon sage
1/2 tablespoon thyme
1 tablespoon cumin
1 teaspoon black pepper
1/4-1/2 cup low sodium beef broth (or water if u don't have that)

Veggies:
1 bag of baby carrots
3 large beets (washed, skin peeled, and sliced about 1/4" thick)
*You can really use any veggie you want as long as its one that takes longer to cook so they don't get soggy. For instance, sweet potato or parsnips work too. Or, add your veggies later and then you can add whatever you'd like.

Instructions:
Throw your onion, mushrooms, and broth or water (whichever you're using) in the bottom of your crockpot. Add all your spices to a small and mix until evenly combined. Coat your raw roast with your spice mixture and really rub it in well on all side- get in all the little crevices. Heat your coconut oil over medium-high heat until its nice and hot and sizzle went you flick a little water into it. Note: the heat of the oil is key, too high and your roast will burn, too low and you'll loose all your spices. Sear the roast for roughly 3 min each side or until nicely browned (don't forget your sides). Once done throw it in the crockpot over your onion/mushroom combo and dump whatever veggie you chose over the top of the roast. Use any leftover seasoning to sprinkle over the top of your veggies. Cook on high for roughly 4 hours depending on your crockpot. If you chose a larger roast it will obviously take longer. Your veggies should fork tender and your roast should fall apart in chunks when you pull at it or it needs to cook longer. Enjoy!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Let the Sugar Detoxing Converge: Sweet Potato & Spinach Buffalo Chicken Meatloaf

Holy long title- sorry!  Anywho, as you may know my absolute idol is Juli Bauer.  Not only is she a BA Crossfitter but she writes a kick ass paleo blog and has abbs you could scrub your laundry on... no joke.  So, yes I aspire to one day be somewhere near as awesome as her.  If you haven't already, check out her Paleo blog paleOMG.com!  This, I must admit is where the bulk of this recipe came from, I just added to it to make a more well rounded meal to scarf down durring my sugar detoxing at work.  It's absolute delicousness. 

Juli is also my inspiration for starting the sugar detox.  I've detoxed twice now and both times made me a crab-but and basically the equivalent of severe PMS.  I kind of swore off the detox after the last time I tried it... but then, Juli started the detox.... and did I mention that this woman LOVES sweets and chocolate!  Therefore, I felt it was fair to assume that if Juli Bauer can make it through the detox I should be able to also- aka suck it up buttercup.  So, here I am on day 3 I believe, of my detox and it's actually going well.  I'm trying really hard to focus on not overeating and to focus on how much I love the foods I CAN have not how much I miss the foods I cannot. 

I felt almost instantly better once I started detoxing.  Previously I've included 1 green apple or banana in the detox and this time I'm planning on sticking to Paleo with no fruit.  I did include more sweet potatoes this time though to keep myself going.  So far I feel lighter, not bloated, and I don't have a horribly upset stomach or gas- BONUS!  I also haven't been crazy moody or ornary... at least not yet that is.  Ken says he's banking on grumpy about day 10... he also threatened to force-feed me a snickers and duck tape my mouth shut if I got too bad (ya, I know I'm loved... no really I am, haha). 

Honestly though, Juli was my inspiration but I'm doing the detox for my own reasons.  Mainly because I can eat one of those ginormous pints of blueberries, by myself in about 1.5 days and that's not exclusively the only fruit I'll consume over that day and a half either.  Somethings gotta give people!  It's not really good for anyone to plow through as much fruit as this little lone ranger can in a day... let alone other paleo sweets if they're around.  So, hopefully the detox will help clear out my system and minimize the cravings... hopefully.

Anywho though here is a recipe of straight delicousness, only slightly tweaked from Juli Bauer's original Buffalo Chicken Meatloaf recipe http://paleomg.com/buffalo-chicken-mini-meatloaf/ (the original is amazing too so I highly suggest you try it):

Sweet Potato and Spinach Buffalo Chicken Meatloaf

• 1lb ground chicken
• 1 egg
• 3 tablespoons coconut flour or 1/2 cup almond flour/meal (I used coconut flour)
• 4-5 tablespoons hot sauce (I used Red Hot)
• 2 stalks of celery, diced
• 1/4 small yellow onion, diced
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1c baby spinach, roughly chopped
• 1 sweet potato (peeled)
• salt and pepper, to taste

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Take your peeled sweet potato and pop it in the microwave for about 5 minutes or so until it's just tender not mushy.  While your sweet potato is cooking, add spices, ground chicken, franks, and your egg to a large bowl and combine. Then add to the mix all your other ingredients.  Once your sweet potato is cool, dice it into cubes and mix it into your meatloaf mixture.  Throw the whole thing in a loaf pan, or seperate into two mini loaf pans, and bake at 375 for roughly 40 minutes or until the top of your meatloaf is browned and your meatloaf doesn't sink when you poke it with a fork.  Let it cool, slice, and dig in!  =Love! 

PS- Should you be interested in trying the 21 Day Sugar Detox, check it out here: http://balancedbites.com/category/21-day-sugar-detox

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone