Happy As A Clam!

last weekend we went to the coast, where we have a small house just north of long beach, washington. long beach is on a 22 mile long peninsula in southwest washington.  the peninsula is surrounded by the pacific ocean on one side and  willapa bay on the other side.  we always have a fun, relaxing time when we go.  here is the link to the long beach peninsula website.  it is full of information on all the activities you can enjoy if you go.  one of our favorite activities to do there is clamming.  when there is a minus tide (meaning an extremely low tide) we drive about 45 minutes around to the mainland side of willapa bay to our favorite clamming spot, and we get out our rakes and bags and start digging for steamer clams. 

if we pick the right spot, every draw of the rake across the sand can yield at least one clam, sometimes more.  shellfish licenses are required, and each person can keep up to 40 clams.  on this day, my husband, my son and i limited out in less than 30 minutes! here are the results of our labor:

i couldn't wait to make our favorite clam recipe for dinner.  it is chef mario batali's recipe for manila clams with pancetta, red chiles and linguine:

1 lb linguine *
1/2 medium red onion, finely minced
1/4 lb pancetta, cut into 1/8th inch dice(our local trader joe's sells packaged diced pancetta that is perfect)**
4 cloves garlic, peeled and finely diced (i use about 2 cloves of garlic -- 4 is too much for me)
6 tblsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp crushed red chile pepper
1 lb manila clams, scrubbed and rinsed
2 cups white wine ***
4 tblsp unsalted butter
1 bunch italian parsley, finely chopped (yield 1/4 cup) (i use dried if fresh isn't available)

bring 6 quarts of water to a boil and add 2 tblsp salt.

in a large saute pan, saute red onion, pancetta and garlic over medium heat until onion is very soft and pancetta is translucent, about 10 minutes.  Add hot chiles clams, white wine and butter and bring to a boil.  cook until all clams have opened, and then set aside.

boil linguine according to package instructions. while softened but still firm, drain in colander over sink and toss into pan with clams and stir gently to mix.  this should still be a little broth-like.  add chopped parsley, pour into warm serving bowls and serve.

* as we are still mostly wheat and grain free, my husband and i had our clams served over zucchini "noodles" -- zucchini that had been cut julienne style and sauteed until it was just starting to soften. 

** i didn't have pancetta available at the time, so i used a pound of bacon that had been diced and sauteed it with the onion.

*** instead of 2 cups of white wine, i used 1 cup of white wine, 1 cup of bottled clam juice and about a 1/2 cup of chicken stock.  that is just how we like it.  i have made it with only the white wine as well, and it is still delicious!

here are the clams as they are cooking:

  and the finished product . . .

i served the clams with a big bowl of roasted mixed veggies for my husband and i, and with noodles sprinkled with parmesan cheese for my son (he is not totally grain free . . . yet!)..  we all scarfed it down in no time.  it was delicious!!!

i hope you are able to try the recipe sometime.  thanks for reading!

waffles and bacon -- finally!!

comfort food at last!!!  last night i decided to fix breakfast for dinner.  bacon and waffles it had to be.  here is my waffle topped with some almond butter.  i have decided i like almond butter better than peanut butter in most cases.  it seems sweeter to me, even when it has no added sugars.  this waffle tasted very good to me, even though it was not my normal recipe.  my current recipe is based on the betty crocker cookbook version, which itself is very good. for those of  you who love waffles and are not eating paleo, here is betty's recipe:    http://caloriecount.about.com/betty-crocker-waffles-recipe-r30241 it is not paleo, however, so i made some changes.  my version is really yummy, but it is not paleo either because it contains spelt flour, which is a grain.  it is higher in protein and lower in gluten than wheat, but it is still a grain product.  so this time i took away the spelt and made it with almond meal, coconut flour and quinoa flour and very little sugar.  it fell apart on the waffle iron and when i finally got one to come off whole, it looked like it was burned.  it wasn't, but it was very brown and fragile. it tasted fine, but the texture wasn't what i wanted.  so back to the drawing board i go, and when i come up with the paleo recipe that works i will post it here.

the bacon was good too, but it was actually a bit of a let down.  here i was anticipating its salty goodness, and while i enjoyed it, i felt like it wasn't necessary to my existence like it had been before the whole30 challenge.  it will be part of our diet occasionally, but i am amazed at how my outlook when it comes to eating has changed so much in such a short time.

today was a bit of a cheat day for me.  i was really hungry after work, so i had a one ounce stick of cheddar cheese.  it was sooooo good!  then it left a really bad taste my mouth that i wasn't expecting, i have eaten this brand many times before, but i will have to think about how important eating cheese is to me.  i also had 2 squares of dark chocolate.  THAT didn't leave a bad taste!! it was fantastic!! :o)

so, another day is done, on to eating healthy tomorrow!!

whole30 challenge, day 24 -- 20 Sit Ups!!!!!

so, six more days to go on the whole30 challenge.  it has been an interesting month.  i will say that i am feeling good.  no heartburn, my energy level has gotten better, and today i did 20 sit ups!!! by myself! for not being able to do any at the beginning of the month, that is a huge accomplishment.  i am proud of myself!  i still don't like getting up at 5 am to exercise, i miss chocolate, and i am looking forward to the end of the challenge so our food repertoire can increase a bit.  i do not plan on going back to drinking hot cocoa every day -- i will save it for saturdays, and maybe one other time during the week.  i will not be eating wheat very often -- there are lots of recipes out there for baking that use alternatives like coconut flour and almond meal.  i had started using quinoa flour in my baking as well, but it looks like i need to do further research on that.  some paleo sources say quinoa is not as good for you as the industry would have you believe.  i don't know.  i will do some more reading and will let you know what i find.  and BACON!! it will be our weekend treat once again!!

my eating today was good.  i came in at just under 1600 calories -- 1589 to be exact.  my hunger was kept at bay, and i am thankful for that. for breakfast i had one egg scrambled with an egg white, a large chicken sausage, some leftover veggies and an orange.  it was a lot, so i spread it out over approximately 30 minutes.  for lunch i had a large chicken breast seasoned with cumin, cilantro, chili powder, garlic and basil.  i sliced it into strips and dipped the strips into some homemade guacamole.  yummy!!!  i also had a whole cucumber, some grape tomatoes and about a cup of cantaloupe chunks.  dinner was a baked chicken thigh, some kale sauteed with onions, and an apple.  my total protein intake was 31% of my calories (119 grams), fat came in at 43% (76.2 grams) and carbs totaled 26% (113.7 grams) of my calories for the day.  i also ate 26.3 grams of fiber.  i seem to feel best when my protein intake is more than my carb intake.  that should not be a surprise, but for someone who has lived on mostly carbs for her entire life, the concept is life altering.  i was also happy that my fat intake was less than 50% and that i got my quota of fiber for the day.

for exercise today, i worked on my arms. i did several reps of bicep curls and side arm lifts, both while holding 5 lb weights. next month i am going to try 10 lb weights (i think . . .). i then used a 15 lb weight, held it in both hands, laid down on my back and did a sort of modified bench press (at least that is what i was trying to do!).  i sat up and still using the 15 lb weight, i did a kind of pull down behind my head (again, i can only work with what i have!! lol!)  i also did 10 one armed push ups on each arm (while laying on my side. i haven't tried regular push ups yet.), some arm circles and leg lifts, and for the grand finale, i did 2 sets of 10 sit ups, for a total of 20. my husband and i took our walk in the evening after work, but before dinner.

i ordered some of the books i had originally checked out from the library.  when i get them i will start posting recipes.  i plan on continuing this blog, and will post on some topics relating to memories and scrapbooking as well as on our journey on the paleo path. 

as 5 am comes very early, i will sign off now.  i thank you for reading.