Showing posts with label just for fun. Show all posts
Showing posts with label just for fun. Show all posts

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Bento Art: The Moon is Made of Cheese



If you have a hunk of hard cheese in your fridge, you are only a couple of minutes away from a bit of lunchbox whimsy - get our your paring knife and let's get to work! Don't stress about perfection - just try several stars (large and small) and throw in a moon if you feel like it! What a fun surprise for the lunch eater. :)

Cheese Stars


Ingredients:
Hard cheese (I used Kerrygold Dubliner)

Materials:
Sharp paring knife
Cutting board

Directions:
Cut off a sturdy slice of hard cheese - 1/4 inch or so. Out of the slice, cut a pentagon as shown above. Then focus on each side of the pentagon, cutting a wide wide triangle out of each side.

Note: Save cheese scraps for a less artistic dish, like melting into an omelette or soup.


Cheese Moon


Ingredients:
Hard Cheese (I used Kerrygold Dubliner)

Materials:
Sharp paring knife
Cutting board

Directions:
Cut a thick (1/4") slice of cheese, and make a diagonal cut across the slice to create a right triangle. (See above.) At the right angle, cut a curve. At each of the smaller angles, slice off the tip of the slice, creating a half circle. Cut a curve inside the half-circle to create the inside crescent.

Note: Save cheese scraps for a less artistic dish, like melting into an omelette or soup.

Friday, August 19, 2011

Planning Way Ahead for Fun Paleo, Primal, and Crossfit Christmas Gift Ideas


I know; you're thinking, C'mon, Family Grok, it's not even the end of August. Well, in the 4.5 years since I've become a parent, I've found that planning ahead for Christmas is critical if I'm to make it through the holiday season with my sanity (mostly) intact.

Also, even though my extended family isn't primal, I still enjoy creating nourishing treats for them - or giving them gifts oriented toward an active naturally-grounded lifestyle. The paleo-leaning gifts that I'd usually like to give often require either a significant chunk of time to create, or a significant amount of money to buy a quality product - so planning ahead is even more crucial.

Here's why I start the Christmas ideas so early on my mental back burner:
  • I can brainstorm - collect a whole host of different projects and products on my growing Pinterest board, and from there I can figure out which ones work for any particular recipient in terms of their preferences, my budget, and my available time.

  • I can map out my resources time-wise. One project this year that will be part of my Christmas gifts - see AndreAnna's homemade vanilla tutorial on the board - may take up to 8 weeks to steep - 8 weeks before Christmas is October 30 - so I basically have a couple of months now to track down all of my supplies.

  • I can map out resources money-wise. If I have some ideas about what I'd like to get or create for folks, then I can be on the lookout over the next few months in terms of savings. One example is for barefoot shoes - they are normally very pricey at retail, but odds are good that if I keep an eye out I could manage to snag a discount of 20% or more off of barefoot shoes before Christmas is here.

    Or say that I'd like to make a homemade plyo box for boxjumps; I could be on the lookout for some free or deeply discounted materials for that box on Craigslist, or I could find a home improvement store coupon in the interrim.

    Additionally, keeping my Pinterest gift idea board populated with a wide range of gifts that have varying costs (down to pennies for, say, some homemade fruit leather) means that I have the flexibility to scale gifts according to budget and what I've managed to save coupon-wise or freebie-wise, as well.

  • I can get most of my gifts finished and wrapped before December is here, leaving time for other important things. Taking the long road to Christmas gift prep now means that I have more time in December to focus on other things: spending time with my family and friends, trying some new special occasion recipes for holiday gatherings, and focusing on why we as a family celebrate the birth of Christ.
Have you started to percolate some Christmas 2011 gift ideas? What possibilities are you dreaming up? Have you started a Pinterest board or other resource to keep track of them? Link up your ideas!

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Dying Easter Eggs with Eco-Eggs' Natural Vegetable Dyes

My husband has been traveling for work this month. It definitely leaves me sort of beside myself in terms of menu-planning. He's my only truly regular opinion in taste-testing, so when he's gone I lack the motivation to bust out new recipes knowing that my 4 year old would just as easily eat some scrambled eggs, and my toddler would just as easily eat the carpet.

So the culinary efforts were dialed down for a bit - but now that he's back I'm starting to think of some new tastes I'd like to try out for his verdict.

One thing we did do recently that was novel and would be appreciated by my 4-year-old...Easter eggs!

Hot liquid, then dye added.
I was looking for something a little less psychedelic than the usual artificial dye kit, and I was delighted to find a deal on the Eco-Eggs Easter Egg Coloring Kit. (I think that you can score these at Whole Foods and other retail locations as well!) Since it was my first time venturing outside of my usual dye kit and I didn't want to accidentally sacrifice a pricey dozen organic eggs if something went disastrously wrong, I bought some conventionally raised white eggs for this project.

I also waited until my toddler's naptime. Aw, snap! Oh, no, she didn't.


You bet I did. My toddler's at that delightful age when she requires constant, constant supervision, so any project involving breakable foodstuffs, hot liquid, and vegetable dye...well, 'nuff said.

You might want to get a
cup of coffee to sip
while the eggs are hot tubbin'.
I boiled the eggs and let them cool completely (this was while the toddler was still awake).

Then, we added 1/2 c. very warm water each to three glasses, and poured in the itty bitty pots of vegetable dye.

5 of the 6 colors on the chart required the eggs to soak anywhere from 10 to 20 minutes, so I cuddled up to a cup of coffee while we waited.






I hope that you agree the wait was entirely worthwhile. :)
I love the mellow, rich, and earthy palette!




Disclosure: This post contains an Amazon affiliate link. Thanks for supporting Primal Kitchen at no additional cost to you!

Friday, March 11, 2011

Is Ron Swanson of NBC's Parks and Recreation Secretly Primal / Paleo?

I am slowly beginning to suspect that one of my current favorite TV characters, Ron Swanson, is secretly primal or paleo. Evidence:




Key paleo or potentially paleo concepts:
  • Skim milk: Avoid it
  • Skim milk: That's right. It's on here twice. Avoid it.
  • Living in the woods: Live off the land.
  • Property Rights: They exist. Don't let them be taken away from you.
  • Cow Protein, Pig Protein, Chicken Protein, Romantic Love, Deer Protein
  • B.O. Cultivating a manly musk puts your opponents on notice.
  • YOU. You are your biggest ally.
  • Self-reliance. Trust yourself.
  • Capitalism. God's way of determining who is smart, and who is poor.
  • Intensity: Give 100%. 110% is impossible. Only idiots recommend that.
  • Discipline: The ability to repeat a boring thing over and over again.
  • Greatness itself. The best revenge.

Not-so-paleo concepts on the pyramid:
  • Fish (Sport only) {C'mon Ron! Get your Omega-3s!}
  • Buffets. Wherever available. Choose quantity over quality.


Here is some more proof of Ron's primal / paleo tendencies:

Quotes:

When they are headed to Ron's favorite steakhouse:

Ron: When I'm done eating a Mulligan's meal, for weeks afterwards, there are flecks of meat in my mustache. And I refuse to clean it because every now and then a piece of meat will fall into my mouth.

The "time capsule" episode:

Ron: I am submitting this menu from a Pawnee institution, J.J.'s Diner. Home of the world's best breakfast dish: The Four Horsemeals of the Eggporkalypse.


The telethon episode:

Ron: Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Don't teach a man to fish, and you feed yourself. He's a grown man. Fishing's not that hard.

From "Summer Catalog":

Leslie: Why would anybody ever eat anything besides breakfast food?
Ron: People are idiots, Leslie.

Leslie: Well, don't be such a baby. I cooked you some bacon for a trail snack.
Ron: I ate it already.
Leslie: What?
Ron: I could smell it in your purse before I even parked my car. And now it's gone and I hate everything.

From "Woman of the Year":

Ron: Come on Leslie, you know I'm not sexist. I love powerful women.
Leslie: You do attend a shocking number of WNBA games.

From the episode "Sweetums":

Ron, on individual liberty: The whole point of this country is if you want to eat garbage, balloon up to 600 pounds and die of a heart attack at 43, you can! You are free to do so. To me, that's beautiful.

From "Tom's Divorce":

Los, Steffi!
Ron: Strippers do nothing for me. I like a strong, salt of the Earth, self-possessed woman at the top of her field. Your Steffi Grafs, your Sheryl Swoopeses, but I will take a free breakfast buffet anytime, anyplace.

Ron: This seems like none of our business.
Leslie: Be supportive, OK? Don't be all like, "No. I don't want to. I am a guy and I like fire, and playing hockey and eating meat. No, no says I."
April: That was a really good Ron.
Leslie: Thank you.

From "The Practice Date":

Ron: I've established a scientifically perfect, ten-point scale of human beauty. Wendy is a 7.4, which is way too high for Tom, who is a 3.8. 10 is tennis legend Steffi Graf.

And finally:



What do you think? Is Ron Swanson secretly primal or paleo?


ETA: Ron visits health food store Grain 'n' Simple and its sample kiosk for vegan bacon.

Thursday, February 24, 2011

Bonus Lunch: Mama's!

Today, my lunch was:

  • Lamb, and lots of it. Simmered in tamari, butter, and red wine vinegar.

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Sunday, January 9, 2011

I Have News for You, Roger Fox

 

At that rate, you may reach T-minus-20-pounds much faster (and in a much less lucrative way) than you envision.
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