Results of 6-month lipid panel

Compared to March 2011 lipid panel after an additional six months following the Primal Blueprint: The end result is much improved. Read the following details if you're anal!

LDL levels improved 9.3%
Triglycerides improved 2.4%
Chol/HDL Ratio improved 8.9%
HDL improved 4.7%
Total Cholesterol declined 11 points, 4.8% reduction.

I am now at the "Desirable" level in three categories, two "Borderline High", an improvement in all categories. And I've got a baseline for tracking.

My Chol/HDL Ratio is 3.58% The desired range is <5.0% - and these are the numbers that really matter in this moment's medical standards. Yippee for the Steffer!

Just can't get enough fish. Not.

Yes, I'm still here. Been working away on my vegetable garden and my yard – tunnel vision, a family trait according to my mother. Works for me. Anyway, on the topic of food (oh gee, another passion,) I’ve been adding fresh fish to my diet. I’d add more if I could catch me a successful fisherman, but that’s another story…

I bought some wild-caught rockfish from my usual butcher/fish-mongering store. Plopped the fish into a hot skillet while simultaneously cooking an artichoke and melting butter (don’t you just marvel at my multi-tasking skills?). It was all coming together until I took a look at the fish…and…there was a friggin worm wiggling out of the lovely fillet. And not liking the heat it encountered. And me not liking the entire scene…

Instant flashback to a time when I was married and adding fish to our diet for its amazing health benefits. The back-story is I have a very weak stomach. Total wimp. Faint at the sight of human blood. Gag easily at gross stuff. Amazing that I actually enjoy cooking…

So I’d cooked a delicious and healthy meal: rockfish and assorted vegetables. My husband and I at table, plates aready, when I glance across and spot a green worm wiggling out of the bite of white fish speared on the fork, on the way to his mouth. He was talking away but quickly noticed I was gagging and pointing and discerned something was horribly wrong. That was the end of that meal.

This evening I immediately phoned my bff Melissa to regale this little adventure. I do love to shock her. Case in point: She’s still telling the story about the time at age 14 when we were discussing THE FACTS OF LIFE and she commented that her parents had only done IT two times, she and her sister. I told her “that’s nonsense, your parents do IT all the time.” And she was horrified and frankly didn’t believe me. Ah, the benefits of having an older brother.

Anyway Melissa was suitably upset at my wormy fish tale. And recalled she’d eaten sushi just last week.

My dogs were delighted at their fishy meal. My artichoke was excellent.

New fangled pizza

I tried this pizza recipe from the Girl Gone Primal site with mouth watering results. Girl is from Australia so I needed to translate the recipe into American, which was easy enough. I just happened to forget that in Australia they bake in Celsius, not fahrenheit. I expect you already see where I'm going with this... I preheated my oven to a whopping 200 degrees fahrenheit thinking to myself that temperature didn't seem hot enough to bake a pizza, but perhaps the cauliflower crust required a lower termperature. So I waited the recommended 15 minutes then looked for bubbling sides and brown center. Hmmm, nothing. Gave it another 15 minutes. Still nothing. The word "Celsius" grabbed my attention. Duh. Penny dropped. 200 degrees C equates to 400 degrees F... Took the pie from the oven and waited until the oven reached temp, popped it back in and after another 15 minutes the sides bubbled and center browned. Go figure.


Ingredients:
1 large head of cauliflower (I used frozen, last bag from my garden)
2 cups grated cheese, mozzarella, cheddar or a combo
2 eggs
Optional herbs (I used dried oregano and parsley)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees fahrenheit (ahem). Line pan or pizza stone with baking paper.

Rice the cauliflower by putting florets into a food processor and buzzing until finely processed (but not mushy). Place cauliflower into a microwave-safe bowl and zap for 6-8 minutes. Makes about 2 cups.

Mix eggs, cheese, and herbs together. Add to cauliflower (I let mine cool a tad so I didn't end up with scrambled cheesy eggs). Spread evenly over baking paper. Bake in oven until golden on top and starting to crisp around the edges, approximately 15 minutes.







Remove from oven and add desired toppings. I used canned mushrooms (because I rather like their rubbery texture on pizza), sliced Kalamata olives



a dash of red pepper flakes followed by sliced salami



then more cheese on top - I used pecorino (which has a nice bite) and some sharp cheddar.



Back in the oven for 15 minutes. You know what? It smelled just like regular pizza baking! And by now I was famished. So the final photo is a little fuzzy and I wasn't about to take time to shoot another one!



Yum! There are endless variations possible for this recipe. I'm going to plant a whole lot more cauliflower this year!

Right on track

I weighed in 12.6 pounds lighter this morning than when I began this lifestyle twelve weeks ago. As much as I'm into instant gratification, dropping one pound per week works for me. Ah, impatience... I've lost my tolerance to sugar. I ate a puff pastry fruit dessert on Saturday - politeness required me to eat the sugary thing. It was a concoction of puff pastry, sliced strawberrys, a dollop of "Cool Whip" sour cream and powdered sugar mixture, slivered almonds, and orange zest. I shuddered at the thought of "Cool Whip" entering my body - What is in that stuff? I was in the throes of a sugar rush an hour later

Primal Almost Lasagne

I made a batch of meatballs using ground beef and ground pork. Then steamed a half cabbage, cut into wedges. Placed the steamed cabbage in a baking dish then added a pint of marinara from last summers bounty Tossed on a handful of mozzarella cheese and a few meatballs Baked it at 350 degrees for 35 minutes And wished I'd cooked the entire cabbage. It went too fast...

Primal Crackers - Variation

Primal Crackers - Sesame/Mixed seeds Amazingly easy crackers
(I found the sesame seed taste too strong in the original recipe so reduced them and added some other seeds - with good result).
Ingredients:

1 cup each sunflower seeds

1/3 cup sesame seeds

1/3 cup ground flax seed

1/3 cup sunflower seed

1/4 tsp onion powder

1/2 tsp sea salt

1/4 tsp chives diced (optional) 1/4 cup water In a food processor (or by hand), create a sort of flour from the sunflower seeds. It takes about 2 for the seeds to break down and turn into a more flour-like consistency, although it will be thicker and heavier. Add the next three ingredients and the spices. Pulse a few times (or mix in by hand), then slowly add water, stirring or pulsing until a thick paste forms that can be rolled out. Between two greased pieces of baking (parchment) paper, roll out the paste as thinly as you can while maintaining a uniform thickness. Remove the upper piece of parchment. Score the batter into squares with a sharp knife, and sprinkle with salt and pepper/herbs if you’d like. Bake at 350°F until golden and crisp, about 20 minutes. The outer edges tend to bake faster - I remove them before becoming too browned, then pop the pan back in the oven for the rest of the batch. Allow to cool thoroughly before gently breaking into squares as scored.

Rosie Contained

A hellacious windstorm blew through my town recently and a huge Douglas Fir tree toppled in its wake. It fell straight down my property line and took out 100 ft of my fence. The porch roof was damaged but I counted myself fortunate that it didn’t land on my house. The butt is six-foot in diameter, I stopped measuring it at 76 ft with a six-inch diameter. Big, big tree. Just so you know, according to the insurance company the property owner where a tree lands has the liability. So its up to me to get rid of this behemoth. And replace the fence. And repair the porch roof. With a cash influx from the insurance company minus my deductible. My neighbor helped me put up some temporary fencing on either side of the porch so the dogs wouldn’t be able to climb out over the tree. This didn’t work at all as both dogs jumped off the porch rail onto the lawn.

Much to my dismay Rosie discovered an escape route. On two separate occasions she took off when I was out in the yard. I called her name, she turned and looked at me, then took a flying leap over the tree and away she went. What a brat. For a week now she’s been chained when outside. The forlorn little thing has that chain stretched taut trying to make a break for another chance at freedom.

I have a dog containment system which I hadn’t installed as the entire property is fenced. Was fenced… I located all the components after much searching (I found my bicycle shoes, my baseball mitt, AND my missing childhood photo album!) except the plug that connects the controller to the wire circuit. I flashed back on disconnecting the system when I moved – the plug was wired through a wall - in a fit of impatience I just cut the mother. Yeah, rather a dumb move in hindsight. Particularly since it is quite small and easily lost… After a couple stops at the local hardware and automotive stores I did the smart thing and located a dealer some 50 miles distant. And scored the part for $10. I wired a temporary circuit blocking the downed tree and placed white flags (a visual reminder for the dogs) along its path. I got everything plugged in and tested the system with a dog collar. Beep, beep, beep. Success! I collared and leashed Rosie and walked her over to the flags. She did not want to get anywhere near them. It’s been two years since we moved and she clearly remembered! Her escape path is blocked. That escape path anyway.

She immediately went to the front of the house and CLIMBED up the porch rail (5 ft from ground level). When I caught her she was contemplating jumping over the hedges lining the porch to reach the tree. I planted more of those white flags along the porch – and that was the end of that. Hopefully she doesn’t test the system!