Paleo Fried Rice and Ginger Pork

     I've been trying to sit down and blog all last week, but I've been so busy, it just didn't happen. And I'm not using that as an excuse because I want to sound important. Here's my daily schedule:

6:45 Get up, fix breakfast, get the kids to school
8:00 Get back home, clean up the kitchen from the night before because I was too lazy
8:45 Go to the gym or the track
10:15 Arrive back home, shower, tend to the mountain of laundry, the piles of trash, the toys scattered about the house, the cobwebs in every corner, and attempt to undo the neglect of my house, just in case someone randomly stops by.
12:00 Fix a super-healthy lunch, like a spinach salad with tons of veggies, grilled chicken, boiled eggs, and balsamic vinegar dressing.
12:30 Start to eat my super healthy lunch, only to be distracted by the dryer stopping. Time to put another load in. Forget about my lunch.
12:45 Remember my lunch and go finish it.
1:00 Figure out and start to prepare dinner for that night.
1:45 Cry because I only have 45 minutes until I have to be at my job in after school, and I forgot to work on my fall clothing line. Maybe tomorrow.
2:25 Go to work.
5:40 Get home from work. Finish dinner, eat, and start the kids on homework, which literally takes all evening.
7:45 Get the kids packed up for school in the morning, PJs on, teeth brushed, and tucked into bed.
8:00 Remember the 47 loads of laundry that I didn't have time to fold, and piled on our bed.
8:45 Pack lunches and snacks for the next day.
9:00 Eat chocolate or a Paleo cupcake. Eat another one in secrecy because I'm ashamed.
9:15 Sit down to blog. Fall asleep because I am exhausted.
And Repeat.

     I thought once the kids go to school, I would have all this free time, but I feel like I can't catch up. I have all these things I want and need to do, after all my daily tasks, I have absolutely no extra time. I'm going to have to take a course on time management or something.

     By the way, did you notice that I'm working out now? About 4 years ago, I worked out several times a week, but once school started, and I started working at the school full-time, I didn't have the time. I've been wanting to get back into it but I didn't have a work out buddy, and wasn't motivated enough to do it alone. If you are wanting to work out too, and can't seem to get motivated, a work out partner who holds you accountable can help a lot. That, and you have to schedule a time to do it, and stick to it. Don't just work out when ever you get a chance, because you will go to the gym twice and then "never have time again." And you will have wasted all that money on your gym membership because you were too lazy to even go up there to cancel it until you've paid for it for 9 months. Not that that's ever happened to me...

     But back to the point. I was excited about getting healthier through eating, and wanted to take it to the next level. I suckered my friend and co-worker, Karl, into training me. For those of you that know him, you might know that he is a boxer, and he's been doing it a long time. He's had a trainer for years, and he's trained people himself. And he can't resist tasty paleo treats, so he agreed to help me get in shape. And let me tell you, he is awesome at what he does. We go three times a week, and we either go to the gym or the track. Every day we switch up what we're doing, and by the end of my work outs, I feel so energized. By the afternoon, I'm exhausted. I can't stop yawning, so if you come up to talk to me and I keep yawning, I promise you aren't boring me. And he's been teaching me to box.

Hey, hey, I've only been doing this a couple of weeks. Give me a couple more months, and I'll look much more menacing.

                                      

Just look at that perfect form!

And here we are at the track.

 
     I used to dread working out. I did the same thing every time, and I exhausted myself so that I was miserable. I've often seen the personal trainers running some poor guy, who is clearly out of shape, half to death. They run till they throw up, and then the trainer barks at them to "Keep going, you big Sissy. My Grandmother runs faster than you." So the thought of a trainer was terrifying. But Karl has a much different approach. We walk 3/4 of a lap, then run the last 1/4, and keep doing that so that I'm gradually building up my endurance. It's much easier to do it that way, and I can already run much longer without feeling so out of breath. And we change our workout every day so it's not the same old thing, we don't overwork the same muscles, but at the same time, we work every muscle in our bodies. On days that I don't work out, I wish I was because I genuinely enjoy it!

     Anyways, I want to share a recipe with you. I love Chinese food. It's my comfort food. So after trying a few Paleo recipes, and tweaking them to our preferences, here's what I came up with. It's hard to imagine the cauliflower as a good rice substitute, but it's actually really, really, good. The sesame oil covers up the flavor, and makes it taste like Chinese food! Feel free to switch this up with different types of meats.

Paleo Fried Rice

Ingredients

1 medium cauliflower

2 cups of diced veggies (carrots, broccoli, zucchini, mushrooms, etc)

1 yellow onion, diced

3 garlic cloves, minced

2 eggs

Coconut aminos, to taste

2 Tablespoons of sesame oil, unrefined (refined oil has no flavor)

1 tablespoon of fat (bacon grease, olive oil, coconut oil, etc)

Salt and pepper, to taste

To make the rice, cut the cauliflower florets off the stem, and put them in your food processor with the shredding attachment until they are in rice-sized pieces. If you don't have a processor, you can use a grater. You probably need a good arm workout anyway.

In a large skillet, add your fat, onion, and garlic. Cook for a couple minutes, then add your veggies and cook until tender.  Pour the veggies into a bowl and set aside. Add your eggs to the skillet and scramble.  Then add your cauliflower, and cook for a few minutes, stirring, until it's good and hot. Add your veggies back in, and add your coconut aminos, sesame oil, and salt and pepper. I usually taste it at this point, and add more oil or seasonings if it needs it.

Ginger Pork

Ingredients

1 pound of pork tenderloin, cut into cubes.

1 teaspoon ground ginger

Salt and pepper

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1 Tablespoon of olive or coconut oil

Cube up the pork.  Add all the ingredients into a skillet, and cook until the pork is done.  Serve with Paleo Fried Rice. 

We've also had the rice with Sesame Chicken from Crunchy Mama. It was good, but I felt that it needed some tweaking. Maybe one day I'll get around to that.