Steak Fajitas ... revisited

* I LOVE when we have steak fajitas which we had tonight.  I posted the recipe in a previous blog (click here), but didn't post any pictures.  Revisiting this recipe and adding the pictures.  If you're like me, I can't just read a recipe and think "YUM" I need to see the yumminess.  We did cook it a little different.  Tonight we used 1 red pepper, 1 green pepper, 1 onion, 1 tomato, 4 stalks of green onions, 2 tbsp ghee (est) and 1 tbsp minced garlic (est) and a 1.32lb cut of flank steak.  The size of the cut we get varies, so we add more veggies accordingly.  Dice the steak into small cubes while raw.  Mix the cubes with the ghee and minced garlic then cook until browned.  Add the sautéed veggies and cook briefly basically to just mix the flavors together.  We top ours with salsa.  This usually provides us with dinner for one day and lunch for one day.

Slow Cooked Chicken & Chicken Soup

• Slow cooked chicken:  Before we left for work we put the frozen whole chicken in the slow cooker, added some seasoning, set on low and left.  It cooked on low from about 7am until 530ish pm.  Remove the chicken and enjoy with your favorite vegetable sides.  We ate the drumsticks and thighs for dinner with some broccolini sautéed in ghee with a spoonful of minced garlic (sautee about 10 minutes).  The breast is saved for the chicken soup.
• Chicken soup:  Pour the juices from the slow cooker into a large pot.  Chop up your choice of veggies.  We used 1 onion, 8 stalks of green onions, 5 carrots, and 8 leaves of kale.  Put them in the pot along with the chopped up chicken breast.  We then fill our pot until about an inch or so from the top and add organic chicken broth to taste along with some parsley flakes, sea salt, pepper, and garlic.  Let simmer on low heat for about an hour stirring occasionally.  Usually provides us with lunch for two days and dinner for one day.
• Added a pic of the soup. Forgot to take one when we first made the soup, so, this is the last bowl.  Lifted a spoonful so you could see the sparse goodies.  Not sure why the picture is sideways, not sure how to flip it, sorry!

Side Note

• Will post later on the slow cooked chicken and chicken soup ... just wanted to stop in to send a Happy Birthday to a dear friend.  Code name: Theth

Lunch - Cranberry & Kale Chicken Salad

• So … we forgot to put the chicken in the slow cooker this morning and now we won’t have leftovers for lunch tomorrow.  Solution:  10oz can of white & dark chicken, 1 stalk of green onion, 3 stalks of kale, and a handful of dried cranberries.  
• Sautéed the chopped up kale in some ghee with a little sea salt and pepper for about 5 minutes then added the diced green onions and continued to sauté for another 2 minutes.  Mixed the sautéed kale and green onions and handful of dried cranberries with about ½ a can or so of the chicken.  
• To go along with the salad, I sautéed some chopped up broccolini in ghee and a spoonful of minced garlic for about 10 minutes.  Also added a side of blueberries and raspberries.  Serves 1.  Hubby will have ... something ...

Weekend Recipe Tryouts

• Happy Birthday to an old friend.  Code name: Teddy.
• Weekends are usually pretty calm in the kitchen.  This weekend however we seemed to spend a lot of time cooking.  Hubby and I had seen some pretty tasty recipes this week and couldn’t wait until shopping day to buy the ingredients.
• Saturday was the Pizza Chili Recipe from Food Renegade.  We used 1 lb grass fed ground beef, ½ lb chicken livers, 6 stalks green onions, 2 smallish yellow onions, 6 slices of bacon, 1 packet of Applegate pepperoni, 1 clove of garlic, 1 quart Earth Fare marinara, 1 quart water, pepper, mushrooms, and pineapple.  We split all the ingredients except the mushrooms and pineapple and cooked in two batches.  My husband’s had the mushrooms and pineapple.  Results: YUMMY!
• Sunday we invited a friend over.  We like to cook primal meals to show them how tasty eating primal can be.  Tonight’s menu: Steak Fajitas and cheesecake with blueberries! 
• Steak Fajitas:  We used 1 flank steak, 1 large red bell pepper, 1 large green bell pepper, 1 ½ yellow onions, 6 stalks of green onions, 1 tomato, 1 clove minced garlic, 2 tbsp ghee and salsa.  I sliced and diced all the veggies while hubby worked on the steak.  He mixed the garlic and ghee together and used it to coat both sides of the steak.  Cook until about medium rare, shut off stove and cut (always cut flank steak across the grain) into bite sized pieces.  Next sauté the yellow onions in your choice of fat.  When they start to clear add the peppers.  Cook for about 5 minutes and add the green onions and tomatoes.  Cook for about another 2 minutes then add the steak.  Then cook until steak is at your desired doneness (for us that’s about 2 more minutes).  We serve ours with our favorite Newman’s Own salsa.  Results: always YUMMY!
• Cheesecake:  We tried the Crustless Primal Cheesecake from The Primalist.  We pretty much following the recipe to a T except for lining the sides with parchment paper.  Results:  Just OK.  Didn’t like the lemon flavor.  Might try orange next time.

My Path to the Primal Lifestyle

• Ailments: I have suffered from daily headaches and periodic migraines since the 6^th grade.  I have been to Neurologists who have done many, many tests and found nothing.  Their solution is to medicate me which I am against.  I have no energy.  I struggled through staying awake in my college courses regardless of how interesting and engaging they were.  I have a hard time watching movies even in the theater because I will doze off.  I have joint pain in my legs and hips.  I would love to run.  Not marathons, but 5ks; however, I usually am in a lot of pain the next day if I do any running.  I get night cramps in my calves which sometimes leave bruises.  I have anxiety, mostly social anxiety, which triggers hot flashes that cause me to severely blush.  I have been picked on so much about it that I tend to avoid social situations.  I have digestion problems, always feeling bloated and gassy by noon.  My husband is the same in that regard.  We’re known for our bathroom sessions (hey, we got a lot of reading in …).  I can’t miss meals or I get shaky, nauseous and headaches.  I don’t sleep well. Sleeping on my back I lose feeling in my limbs, on my sides the same thing plus it feels like my chest is being crushed, and on my stomach I get a bad crick in my neck.  I almost always wake up with a bad headache which luckily reduces after a shower and breakfast.
• My husband and I had been complaining about putting on some weight for quite a while.  We’re not drinkers, so we referred to our beer bellies as WoW bellies (WoW for World of Warcraft).  We bought a basic weight bench, some dumbbells, a pull-up bar that goes in a doorway, and some resistance band door contraption.  We’d be good for a couple days to a week then slack off.  In September 2010 we signed up for a Fitness Bootcamp.  Twice a week for an hour the personal trainer would work us relentlessly.  We followed his meal plan suggestions on eating 5-6 times a day.  My husband and I both gained a pound or two after the camp which was attributed to muscle gain.  Body fat percentages remained unchanged.  We felt no different afterwards, but tried to keep up the exercising.  Of course, we slacked off.
• My husband’s dream is to build a straw-bale or similar type house.  He believes in doing things naturally being green when we can.  He’s always reading articles on the Internet about everything.  In part of his search to relieve my headaches and be healthy he stumbled across Mark’s Daily Apple.  I am pretty open-minded with my husband’s ideas, so I agreed to try the primal diet for at least 30 days.  Over the next couple of months we worked on only buying primal groceries and using up the non-primal food.  As of January 1, 2011 we went 100% with the primal diet.  We do have occasional cheats, but they are pretty spaced out.
• Since going Primal I have seen a reduction in my headaches.  My daily headaches aren’t always daily and they are less intense.  My migraines are more spaced out.  I lost 15 lbs and my husband lost 22 lbs.  Our digestion problems are practically gone.
• We are going to stay on the Primal diet and work on making it a Primal Lifestyle.  Next is working on getting more active.

About Me

• I am the in-house tax accountant for a local holding company that deals mostly in real estate development.  I have been there since January 2006.  I graduated college in May 2007 with B.S. in Accounting.  Depending on where my path leads me, I would love to get my Masters and sit for the CPA exam.
• I am a gamer.  I run a level 25 guild in World of Warcraft.  I actually met my husband through the game.  We have been happily married since February 2009.  He is my best friend and soul mate.
• I love animals.  My husband and I adopted a cat named Rocco, a mini Aussie named Ozzy, and a wirehair terrier named Pepper.  Pets bring so much joy to our family offering so much entertainment.
• Other interests include playing the piano and flute, doing anything arts and crafts related, and reading.