Update: Wolverine-Fit

WOW! The online registration is complete and now we are just waiting for the university's approval. Sounds like we've got a nice small group to start things off and hopefully we will quickly grow and expand as the semester goes on. I also found a faculty advisor who is a level one certified trainer who used to coach at box in St. Louis. He now in a professor in the MCDB department and will be helping to get the club running. All good news.

Bad news, I just found out that my foot is broken... and has been for about a month. Probably should have gotten it checked out sooner. There is a spiral fracture in the fifth metatarsal of my left foot (the outermost bone on the top of your foot). So now I am wearing a boot and will have to do so for about a month. No endurance training or metcons for me.... but I see it as a chance to get sick at pull ups and gain a little weight before winter Crossfit and strength training starts. I am also looking to get my own bumper plates, real expensive stuff there.

JUST HIT 500 VIEWS!

Thank you to everyone who looks at my blog..... whoever you are. I have one request from you and that is to leave more comments, suggestions on what to write about, ect. Thanks. You are all wonderful.

Paleo Poutine

Yeah it happened, paleo poutine. What is poutine? It's a French-Canadian dish involving french fries, cheese curds, and gravy. It doesn't exactly qualify as a paleo approved dish, but I was up for the challenge. With a few tips from PaleOMG and some improvising I made it happen.

Why poutine? WHY NOT?

Ingredients

• Sweet potatoes
• Olive Oil
• Salt and Pepper
• Ground Meats of Various Varieties (redundant?)
• Meat Seasoning (I like cumin and chili)
• Onion
• Green Bell Pepper
• Garlic
• Cauliflower
• Stock
• Coconut flower or another paleo thickening agent

Forget french fries, we went for the baked sweet potato fry. This is where it gets weird, no cheese curds. Instead, we replaced them with roasted cauliflower bites. Gravy? We added meat for powerful protein and deliciousnessness. Then we topped it all off with sautéed onions, peppers, and jalenpenos. 

I know, it looks nothing like normal poutine (probably doesn't a whole lot like it either), but it was delicious. 

   

Directions

1. Fire up the oven to 400F
2. Chop up the potatoes into french fry sized piece and cut the floretes in cheese curd sized chunks.
3. Cover your veggies with olive oil, salt and pepper. Add some garlic or cayenne if you're feeling adventurous.
4. Bake the taters and cauliflower for about 25 minutes.   
5. Sautee chopped onions and garlic in a pan, adding in the meat mixture after they turn translucent.
6. Add your meat seasonings into the pan.
7. Start your gravy by heating olive oil, butter, or your favorite fat in a sauce pan. Add the flour and create a roux. 
8. Once the roux has been assembled add the stock (homemade is best) then reduce and allow to thicken
9. Chop and sauté the peppers, onions (and jalepenos) for the toppings
10. Assemble and enjoy.

Fiesta Pork Tongue

PARTY! Here is what I decided to make with the pork tongue I picked up at the farmer's market in Ann Arbor the other day. Because it's a tough cut I decided to braise it until it became tender and serve it up with some onions, cilantro and farmers market tomatoes. This definitely will not be the last time I get tongue.

Tongue, disgusting right? Not at all! Even though it's considered to be offal, tongue is that it is still a muscle just like steaks, chops and ribs. So it's really no different from other cuts of meat if you think about it. Since its low in fat (after removing the skin, it had a really light favor that reminded me of dark poultry meat.

Good lord, I need some new plates.

Ingredients

• 1 Pork or Beef Tongue (beef will feed a lot more people)
• Onion
• Garlic
• Bay Leaf
• Salt
• Apple Cider Vinegar
• Tomatoes
• Cilantro
• Avocado
• Chili Powder

Directions

1. Blanche the tongue with apple cider vinegar and boiling water to clean it and make it easier to remove the thick skin on the surface of the tongue
2. Remove the cuticle from the tongue by peeling it back or using a knife to cut it off
3. Add tongue, sliced onion, minced garlic, salt, bay leaf, and water to a crock pot. The water should reach half the height of the meat
4. Braise meat on low for 8 hours or until it easily falls apart
5. Remove and shred tongue meat adding chili powder
6. Plate with sautéed onions, fresh tomatoes, sliced avocado, and cilantro 

Update on the kimchi, I didn't let it ferment nearly long enough so it just tasted like cabbage with that fancy "rooster sauce." Next time I try it out, I'll have to do it the traditional way. Just wasn't the same. 

Offal

I bought tongue at the Farmer's Market today, I'll let you know how it goes. What did I get myself into?

Braised Cinnamon Cabbage

As promised here is the braised cabbage recipe. Next I'm working on a quick kimchi (not even sure if I'm going to be allowed to call it that since I'm planning on using green cabbage instead of napa pre-made can of chili-garlic sauce instead of making my own with fish sauce). I'm excited since this will be the first dish I will attempt to ferment, which is a great way to introduce probiotics into your diet. 

On the other hand, I'm also a little nervous that it might erupt into a massive bacterial colony that will take over my kitchen. But if something did go horribly wrong, its alright because I move out of this apartment in a few days. It'll be the next tenant's problem. GO KITCHEN SCIENCE!  

Ingredients

·      1 Green Cabbage

·      1 Carrot

·      1 Red Onion

·      2 Tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar

·      4 Tbsp of favorite fat

·      Tsp Cinnamon

·      Tsp Cumin

·      Dash of Salt

Directions

1.     Chop cabbage and onion into bite-sized pieces slice the carrot on the bias.

2.     Add all ingredients into a crock-pot on high for 4 hours or sauté vegetables in fat then add seasoning and vinegar.

3.     The longer you let it sit, the tastier it gets!