Paleo Pizza Crust - Tapioca Flour (Can be eaten during Dukan Consolidation)

The other weekend we made the male half of this couple a Paleo-ish pizza.  It came from this blog and the blogger doesn't want others to repost, so we'll let you take a peek if you would like to.

We have mixed feelings about the crust, BUT we're pretty sure we did something wrong.  We're going to try the recipe again and will post the results...one of our mistakes, we didn't measure everything out and we were trying to do other things unrelated to the kitchen at the same time.  Our oil started to boil, but we probably should've let it boil longer and because we didn't have our Tapioca Flour pre-measured, the oil did cool making the dough difficult to mix.

I tried a small piece of this pizza which turned out VERY CRISPY.  It was like a cracker.  I happened to like the taste and would probably double the amount of Italian Seasoning and garlic in the dough.  The male half thought it was pretty good, but he didn't care for his dough being this crispy.  The second day he heated the last slice up in the microwave oven with a damp paper towel over it and it softened a bit.

For the Dukaners out there who would like to try this recipe, please wait until Consolidation...it's fairly oily and has the tapioca flour which we avoided until Consolidation.

Here are some photos of the pizza.  It was nice to know his dinner was pretty much grain free.

Dough/Batter

Pizza Crust (aka Pizza Cracker)

Article Page - Dairy Intolerance

Even before we heard of the Paleo Diet the male half has been telling me too much cheese is no good.  He never went into detail on the why....he just said "can cause constipation"...and I never asked him why he was so against it since I love dairy products.

Some Paleo folks cut out dairy, some reduce their dairy, some will only use raw products, etc.  I haven't seen and haven't really looked for raw milk, etc here in Hawaii and I'm not sure I love dairy enough to pay the extra cost for it either...so we're choosing to cut out as much dairy as we can.  The results -- as long as we're not having a voggy day I seem to experience less post nasal drip which is great!

I'll have to keep tabs on what the male half is eating when we're not together (i.e. - at work, on business trips, etc.) because his sinus problems are still there...then again, we've had a week of bad vog...so I'll check on his sinuses again once we get the vog out of our system.

This is an interesting and informative article about dairy intolerance.   We hope to post more articles on dairy intolerance soon.  A month or so ago the male half and I had a conversation about what was making his sinuses clog up.  We ran down what he ate that evening and decided it had to be the ice cream he snuck in since that was the only thing he ate that he doesn't normally eat.  This led to a search on "does dairy effect sinuses"...I found a great article which I cannot seem to find again...but I'll keep looking!

Paleo Crockpot Pork Chops, Bacon and Apples

Crockpot Pork Chops , Bacon and Apples

We enjoyed this recipe...can't say we loved it, but it was tasty and different for us.

We removed a lot of the fat from our pork chops -- of course, our pork chops turned out a little dry.  Well, I should say some came out dry and some came out almost dry.  No complaints from the male half of this couple though...he was happy to have something different.  We also cooked it quickly - 4 hours on high, but wish we had more time to slow cook it.   We found many recipes online for Crockpot Pork Chops, Bacon and Apples -- then came up with our own version.

Will definitely try other pork chop/bacon/apple recipes in the future.

We ate this while in Dukan Consolidation but if you feel it's too much fat for you, you can wait until your weight has stabilized.  This dish didn't effect our weight at all.  We had these pork chops with steamed broccoli.

RECIPE:
Serves 4
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 4 hours on high or 8 hours on low

4-5 small lean pork chops, some fat removed
4 strips bacon, cut into large chunks
2 apples, cut into 1" pieces (or around there)
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 small yellow onion, sliced
salt and pepper to season the pork chops
1/2 t. chili flakes

Place apples, garlic, onion, bacon and chili flakes into a lined crock pot.  Season pork chops with salt and pepper, place them in the pot.  Cover and cook for 4 hours on high or preferably 6-8 hours on low.

Enjoy!

Paleo Banana Bread

Grain-Free Banana Bread

We loved this recipe!

When we first looked into the Paleo diet, one of the first recipe blogs we came across was Civilized Caveman's blog.  What a find!  George has a great inspirational story and he comes up with some fabulous recipes!

I had been bugging the male half of this couple to incorporate more Paleo foods into his diet.  Weekday breakfasts are always a little tough for us...he only likes to eat certain things at work for breakfast.  I knew he loved bananas so I decided to try the Civilized Caveman's Paleo Banana Bread and wow, it is close to banana bread made with white flour!

If you're on the Dukan Diet, definitely try this once you get to Consolidation.  I'm still trying to lose weight, so I sampled half a slice and the male half enjoyed the rest of the loaf for his breakfast.  I offered to make Banana Bread French Toast for him...but he doesn't like to eat French Toast at work.  It has no added sweeteners!  I liked it as is, the male half of this couple drizzled organic honey on his.

NOTE: We made a second batch of this for the male half of this couple.  Don't skimp on the bananas...we were shy 1/2 c. or so of bananas and wow, it makes a difference.  The second batch is drier than the first.  It's not horrible, but not as fabulous as the first loaf.  We didn't have enough bananas and read a comment posted by another blogger on the Civilized Caveman's site that they used less bananas and it still came out great.  We wouldn't recommend it!

RECIPE:
Makes 1 loaf
Prep Time: 10-15 minutes
Bake Time: 30-40 minutes (check for doneness)

2 1/2 c. mashed ripe bananas (approx 3-4 bananas)
4 eggs
1/2 c. almond butter
4 T. grass-fed butter or coconut oil, melted
1 T. cinnamon
1 t. baking soda
1 t. baking powder
1 t. vanilla
pinch of pure sea salt

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.  Grease a metal loaf pan.

Combine bananas, eggs, almond butter and grass-fed butter until smooth - we used a handheld mixer.  Add dry ingredients and mix well.  Pour batter into greased pan and bake for 30-40 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit.  Ours cooked in 30 minutes (landlady installed a new range!).  Check for doneness with a toothpick.

Let cool, cut and serve.

Enjoy...we sure did!

Articles Page - Paleo Diet Info.

We've mentioned this page before, but now that we have a page to collect articles and posts, thought we'd post it.  We read a couple times on Flamidwyfe's blog about the Paleo diet...sounded interesting, so almost an entire year later I decided to look into what the Paleo Diet was all about.  This is one of the first article/post we came across.  It was informative, in layman's terms and humorous (not to the point the humor discredited the post).  I emailed it to the male half of this couple and said "let's discuss over lunch".  He read it and that same day we were discussing the pluses and minuses of trying the Paleo Diet.  

The male half actually read up on information similar to the Paleo Diet when his father had bypass surgery years ago.  The dietician his father saw not only recommended exercise and a low fat diet, but he encouraged "cleaner" eating.  While the male half hasn't committed to trying the Paleo Diet 100%, he will eat the Paleo/Dukan meals we make and has even tried the baked goods I've been baking for him.

Our lives have become a little crazier, so we have even less time to cook but as soon as things get back to normal I am going to push for us to eat Paleo for all meals.

Hope you enjoy nerdfitness' rundown of the Paleo Diet.

Dukan Crockpot Enchilada Stew (it's Paleo too!)

Enchilada Stew

We loved this recipe!

This recipe came from a Paleo site, Paleomg.com.  She blogger is pretty funny and we've tried a couple of her recipes...very good!  We actually tried this recipe back while I was getting over an illness so we never worked on a post for it.  It was very tasty, but a little too spicy for us so we added an additional can of tomato sauce.

This made a LOT of food for the two of us.  Leftovers went into a frittata and the rest in the freezer. The male half of this couple enjoyed his stew with a couple slices of avocado.  We left out the coconut oil since we didn't have any, but the stew still came out great!

RECIPE:
Serves a lot (depends on how you eat it...I ate it as is, the male half had his with brown rice.)
Prep time: 10-30 minutes (we removed fat from our chicken)
Cook Time: 6-8 hours on low

Enchilada Stew

2 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken thighs (some fat removed, too much fat removed will result in a very dry chicken dish)
1 small yellow onion, chopped
1 small green bell pepper, chopped
2 jalapenos, seeds removed, chopped
1 - 4oz can chopped green chiles
1 - 14 oz can crushed tomatoes
1 - 7 oz can tomato sauce
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 T. ground cumin
1 T. chili powder (use less if you prefer less heat)
2 t. dried oregano
salt and pepper, to taste
bunch of cilantro, for garnish, chopped
avocado, sliced (if you're not in Cruise)

Rinse and pat dry chicken.  Place chicken in a lined crock pot.  Add the rest of the ingredients on top the chicken in any order.  Cover and cook on low for approximately 6 hours.  Shred chicken before serving.

Enjoy...we sure did!

Dukan Crockpot Cilantro Lime Chicken (it's a Paleo recipe too!)

Crockpot Cilantro Lime Chicken

We have mixed feelings about this one...mostly because we didn't follow the recipe all the way and we're guessing that may be partly why it didn't come out to our liking.

This is a very flavorful marinade, but it was too lime-y for us.  It may be because we used 8 boneless chicken thighs instead of a whole chicken...but one of us doesn't like looking at or touching a whole chicken!  I'm hoping someone else will try it with the whole chicken because the recipe we found, the photo on the blog made the chicken look so yummy!   Here's the original recipe.

Here's what we did:

RECIPE:
Serves 4
Prep time: 15 minutes plus overnight marinading
Cook time: 6 hours on low

8 boneless, skinless chicken thighs, most of the fat removed

Dry Rub ingredients:
1 t. pure sea salt
1 t. black pepper
1 t. chili powder
1 t. cayenne powder
1 t. ground cumin

1/2 c. lime juice (about 4 limes for us...if we try this again, we've going to try 1/4 c. lime juice)
2 generous handfuls of fresh cilantro, chopped
3 cloves garlic
1 T. extra virgin olive oil (optional if you're on Dukan)

Rinse and pat dry your chicken.  Place in a large ziplock bag (we don't recommend using a crock pot


liner - ours leaked.  Apply the dry rub onto the chicken, make sure to put an even coating on the chicken.  In a food processor, combine lime juice, cilantro, garlic and olive oil.  Pour marinade over chicken.  Seal bag pressing out as much air as you can.

Marinade chicken overnight.  The next day, place chicken in crockpot along with any leftover marinade, cook on low for 6-8 hours.  We cooked ours for 6 hours.

Hope this turns out better for everyone else...maybe one day I'll get over my whole chicken fears!

New Page - Articles

For the past couple of months we've been reading online articles on various blogs about the Paleo or Caveman Diet.  We started with Flamidwyfe's blog and branched out from there.

We haven't gone completely Paleo yet...still trying to lose weight -- so we're on the Dukan Diet but we try to make our meals as Paleo as we can without adding too much fat.  It's been a challenge, but a good one.  I wish I kept all the articles I came across RE: Dukan and Paleo -- but I didn't.

Today we decided to add a new page to our blog to collect some of the articles that continue to inspire us.  There's just a few articles but as we add articles, we'll post about it too.  A note about us and the articles we come across -- like many others, we always take in information with a grain of salt understanding that many times an article is one person or persons opinion or views on the subject or what they researched.  We try to do additional research to weigh various opinions on the subjects, etc.  We are not endorsing any opinions shared in these articles -- these are articles that inspire us to research more, understand more, care more, etc.

Our first addition is this article on inflammation we found on Deliciously Organic's blog/recipe site.   Inflammation is something we dealt with a lot in the past and we're all for natural cures.  During the Attack and Cruise Phases of the Dukan Diet, we didn't notice as much inflammation.  At my lowest weight during Dukan, I was feeling great.  After spending some time in Consolidation and adding back a serving of whole wheat to our diets, the inflammation returned.  We noticed a decrease in inflammation after experimenting with Paleo (reducing our grains to almost nothing).

We hope to move towards a completely grain-free diet in the near future.  For now, we eat grain-free as often as we can!  Less tummy bloating for us :-)

Cauliflower Fried Rice (Dukan and Paleo)

Cauliflower Fried "Rice"

We loved this recipe!

Thank you Nomnompaleo.com for sharing your recipe!  We can't wait to try different variations of this fried "rice".  We may have mentioned before, but we are not big fans of cauliflower, don't really care for the taste.  In the past, we never made cauliflower at home, it's expensive here in Hawaii and it's usually a side dish at a restaurant, steamed with not much seasoning.  We've experimented with Cauliflower Pizzas and now enjoy cauliflower!  (We'll post the Cauliflower Pizza recipe soon).

We did change the recipe a tiny bit to accomodate either what we could find at the Farmer's Market and what we had in our fridge.

We made the Paleo version of this recipe but it's easy to change it to a Dukan recipe...many Paleo recipes are!  For Dukan Dieters, omit the bacon if you're worried about fat and use a lean meat or you can go meatless too.  Also use non-stick spray instead of the bacon fat.  Easy!

RECIPE:
Serves 4-6
Prep time: at least 20 minutes (we have a tiny food processor, the male half said we could buy a larger one if I start using ours on a regular basis :-))
Cook time: around 20-30 minutes (sorry I forgot how long it took us)

1 small head of cauliflower, washed and cut into florets
3 slices of uncured bacon, diced small
2 eggs, beaten
1 inch piece of ginger, grated fine
1/2 yellow onion, diced small (you can use a whole one)
4 oz. shiitake mushrooms, sliced
2 green onions, chopped
2 T. fresh cilantro, chopped
2 T. fresh basil, chopped
kosher salt and black pepper to taste
splash of vinegar
splash of Red Boat Fish Sauce (don't leave this out!)

Pulse cauliflower florets until they are the size of rice (we over pulsed ours).  Cook bacon in a pan over medium heat.  While the bacon is cooking, chop the rest of your ingredients.  Remove cooked bacon and some of the bacon fat (leave enough to cook the egg).  Beat eggs, add salt and pepper, then fry a thin omelet in the pan.  My mother used to chop the omelet up into small pieces when the egg was almost done cooking, so we did the same.  Remove egg from pan.

Turn the heat up to medium-high (add bacon grease or spray pan with non-stick spray) and add chopped onions with a pinch of salt and a dash of pepper.  When the onions are softened, add the mushrooms and stir fry until mushrooms are almost cooked through.  Add ginger, stir fry for 30 seconds.  Add cauliflower and some salt and pepper, stir.  Put a lid on your pan and lower your heat to low and let cook for about 5 minutes.  When the cauliflower is tender, add the egg and herbs.  Mix, add salt and pepper if needed.  Top off your fried "rice" with a splash of fish sauce and serve.

Enjoy...we sure did!

Blog Name Change and an Update

Hope everyone had a nice and Dukan successful weekend.

This morning we were fiddling with out blogger template, trying to change things up a bit and decided to rename our blog (the URL will remain the same for now).  Decided to simplify our blog name to "Dukan-ing in Hawaii".

Our recipes can be used in many different locations around the world but for the most part, we usually change recipes because we're using what's available in Hawaii and what's not going send us to the 'poor house'.  Every place has its perks and challenges when it comes to ingredient availability -- for Hawaii it's being a state that imports a lot of its goods and our humid weather.  Don't get us wrong, we rather run around in flip flops and shorts pretty much every weekend of the year versus dealing with snow and temperatures below zero!

So, the big hula competition is over....we enjoyed over 18 hours of live hula coverage!  It was a long hula day yesterday but we managed to bake a Paleo Banana Bread for the male half of this couple.  That recipe will be posted in a week or so.  Dukan'ers can enjoy this recipe during Consolidation and Stabilization...and it doesn't have any grains or add sweeteners!

This coming weekend will be a cooking weekend.....hope to have more recipes up throughout April.   We're keeping up our 30 minute cardio workouts almost daily.  We haven't done a Pure Protein day in forever -- will have to plan one this week.  Speaking of food, the weather has been unusually cold in Hawaii for this time of year (with the exception of yesterday).  We've been dipping down into the low sixties, upper 50's...which I know doesn't seem bad compared to other places, but it's just something we're not used to nor are we prepared with a lot of warm clothes.  I looked back to what we ate in February and March -- mostly Nabe (Japanese hot pots).  It was a way for us to eat healthy, simple and warm!

Dukan Avocado Tartare (it's Paleo too!)

Avocado Tartare

We loved this recipe!  Well, I loved it and the male half thought it was tasty even though it has raw onions in it.

We used a recipe we found on Foodland's website and tweaked it a bit (and at home we refer to it as "Avocado Salsa".  We used less oil, less lime juice and left out the fresh oregano since we didn't have any.   Even with less lime juice, it was still very tart and tangy...we'll probably use even less next time.    We actually used way too much cilantro...we didn't want to waste it...the recipe below shows the correct amount you may want to use.

For Dukan Dieters, you may want to wait until Consolidation and Stabilization to consume this due to the fat content of the avocado and the amount of olive oil used.

RECIPE:
Serves 4-6
Prep Time: approx 20 minutes

2 ripe, large avocados, pitted and diced (skin removed)
1 jalapeno or serrano chile (seeds removed), diced (we used a jalapeno)
1/3 c. fresh cilantro, chopped
1/3 c. red onion, chopped
1/8 c. fresh lime juice (approx 1 lime)
salt and pepper to taste
1 t. Tamari (wheat free, gluten free low sodium soy sauce)
1/2 - 1 T. olive oil

Mix all ingredients to together.  Add more salt and pepper if needed.  Chill for about an hour and serve.

This Avocado Tartare goes great with our Seared Ahi Tuna Recipe!  You can use it on tacos, quesadillas, served over a southwestern style steak, etc.

Enjoy...we sure did!

Dukan Seared Ahi Tuna

Seared Ahi Tuna

We both loved this recipe!

Why we've never tried to make it at home...we just don't know.  Last week we got back in touch with our fish guy...for those new to our blog, we are very lucky to know a guy here in Honolulu who enjoys going to the fish auction.  What this basically means is, we pay his much lower weight for fresh fish which is sometimes less than 1/4th the cost in a market like Whole foods.  The taste is also fresher.

Originally we envisioned baking or grilling our fish but our fish guy was so excited to tell us he just cut some ahi tuna and it sashimi grade...for those not familiar with the term, it basically means it is a very good quality and can be eaten raw.  Our fish guy said "you're not going to cook this are you?!"  So, we decided to have Seared Ahi Tuna.

This is a very tasty and easy dish to prepare.  The fish cooks VERY quickly since you're searing it, not cooking it through.  We used Tom's Blackened Seasoning from allrecipes.com...we used Truvia instead of sugar, but other than that, we used the recipe as is....oh except we made only a quarter of the recipe.   For the ahi, we followed Foodland's recipe...we made the avocado tartare too...that recipe will be coming up on Monday, April 8th!  This can be Paleo - use Stevia as your sweetener for the seasoning.

We are definitely making this again.

RECIPE:
Serves 3-4 (depends what you're having it with, if you're having a starch, etc.)
Prep Time: approx 20 minutes
Cook Time: less than 10 minutes

2 - 6 oz. sashimi grade ahi tuna blocks (we tried to cut ours into 1 - 1 1/2" blocks, try not to cut your fish too thin or it'll cook too quickly)
1/2 T. extra virgin olive oil
blackening spice (see below)

Blackening Spice ingredients:
1/4 T. paprika
1 t. dried thyme
1/2 t. onion powder
1/2 t. garlic powder
1/4 T. natural sweetener (we used Truvia) - use Stevia if you're on Paleo (but I would try less than 1/4 T. first)

Wash and pat dry your fish.  Heat your pan on high heat for a couple of minutes.  Brush fish with olive oil and season evenly with blackening spice (if you're in Attack, omit the olive oil, rub the seasoning on your fish and spray your pan with a little bit of non-stick spray).  We didn't add any more salt but you can season your fish with salt before the blackening spice if you wish.  Place fish into hot pan, sear on all sides until brown on the outside and opaque on the inside, about 1 minute per side.

Remove fish from pan and place on a plate lined with paper towels.  Let fish cool before slicing.  We used this time to make our Avocado Tartare.

The male half of this couple had his fish with our Sesame Cucumber Salad, Avocado Tartare and Okinawan Sweet Potatoes.  I had the same minus the potatoes.    This can be eaten as is - Pure Protein or served with veggies.

Enjoy...we sure did!

Another Weekend of No Cooking!

I've already announced to the male half this will be a non-cooking weekend for us.  It's Merrie Monarch weekend starting from this evening.  Merrie Monarch is known to many as the Olympics of Hula.  My annual tradition is to watch the three day event (6 hours each night) with my hula friends.  There's also other televised programs related to Merrie Monarch starting tonight and it's their 50th Anniversary.  So, needless to say, I'll be spending a lot of time curled up in front of a tv watching the competition.

We're already thinking about what we can pick up food-wise.  Poke or seasoned raw fish will probably be on the list as well as a salad or two.  Trying very hard not to cheat since we've been exercising daily and although the pounds haven't dropped off, the body fat percentage has dropped a little.  The male half (although he has no weight to lose) is now taking the stairs to his 8th floor office twice a day.  I've been doing a mix of cardio and strength exercises.

We may try to squeeze an easy meal before meeting up with some out of town guests but we are also working on some home improvement projects....so that may take up most of our non-Merrie Monarch time this weekend.

We do have a couple recipes scheduled to post tomorrow and next week!

That's our update for now :-)

Dukan Japanese Style Cucumber Sesame Salad (it's Paleo too!)

Cucumber Sesame Salad

Help!  We've fallen and we can't get up!  Actually, we fell off the wagon, gained a couple pounds, but are back on track.  The short story - work has been incredibly busy -- working VERY long hours = not much time or energy to meal plan or cook.  We ended up eating what we could while trying to make better choices.  Didn't work.  Last week we decided we gotta get back on track.  Went back to a Cruise-like Consolidation while trying to apply Paleo rules and lost a couple pounds.  Also got back on track with our cardio workouts 5 times per week.

What does a Cruise-like Consolidation Phase with Paleo rules equal to?  Low fat, almost no dairy, no grains, lots of fresh veggies, and trying to choose food items that are close to being natural.  Oh and we're trying to do this while lowering our food budget.  I'm still trying to get a hold on our new way of eating and our new budget.

Cucumbers were on sale the other week (on sale here they are about $1.99 per pound) and we decided to throw together a Japanese style cucumber salad I grew up on.  It is a VERY EASY recipe, tasty and refreshing.   The male half of this couple loves cucumbers and he loved this salad.

This is a Consolidation Phase recipe, although eaten in moderation it worked just fine during Cruise for us.  It's up to you.

RECIPE:

Serves - depends on the size of your cucumber (ours served us 2 times, plus a snack size amount for the male half of this couple)

Prep Time: Approx 20 minutes (part of this time you are letting your cucumbers sit in the fridge)

1 cucumber (approx 3/4 lb.), 1/4" slices (or halves, or cubed, whichever you way you like it)

1 T. ground sesame

1/2 T. sesame oil

1 t. kosher salt (or pure sea salt)

1 T. Tamari (wheat free low sodium soy sauce - I would start with 1/2 T. if you're watching your sodium intake)

Massage salt into cucumbers.  Place bowl of cucumbers into the refrigerator for approximately 10 minutes.  Remove the bowl from the fridge and drain liquid.  Add ground sesame, sesame oil and tamari, mix well and place bowl back in the fridge for a few minutes or until you are ready to eat.  

NOTE: We added cubed konnyaku to our salad because we had half a cube left over, it tastes great either way.   We also made a double order of this which was way too much for us.  We like variety when it comes to our weekly food intake.  We made one order this past weekend and it was just perfect as a side dish for the two of us, plus a snack size portion for the male half the next day.

The following day the cucumbers didn't look as crisp, but they still had a nice crunch to them.

Enjoy...we sure did!