Hello and Happy Wednesday, Witty Wonders!

I hope you missed me yesterday because I've got some good stuff for you today!  Now, typically when I plan out my dinner plates, I do one portion of meat and two portions of veggies.  Most of the time, I do 2 different veggies and coming up with ways to cook them and more so, ways to dress them up can be a challenge.   Queue in the SAUCES and a list of cooking methods!

I think my favorite way to cook veggies is to roast them.  Something about the crunchiness it adds makes me feel all warm and fuzzy.  Other than that, try these different cooking methods on your favorite veggies!

  • Bake
  • Boil
  • Steam
  • Stir-Fry
  • Blanch
  • Saute
  • Grill
  • Stew
  • Nuke (microwave)

Hollandaise Sauce:

4 egg yolks (save your egg whites for Paleo Tortillas!)

1 tbsp lemon juice

1/2 cup unsalted, grass fed butter

Whisk the egg yolks and lemon juice together in a stainless steel bowl and until the mixture is thickened and doubled in volume (a hand mixer is really helpful here). Place the bowl over a saucepan containing barely simmering water (or use a double boiler,) the water should not touch the bottom of the bowl. Continue to whisk.  Be careful not to let the eggs get too hot or they will scramble. Slowly drizzle in the melted butter and continue to whisk until the sauce is thickened and doubled in volume. Remove from heat, whisk in cayenne and salt.

Vinaigrette:

Get crazy with these! Just make sure you use 3 parts oil to 1 part vinegar.  I frequently make a mustard vinaigrette by adding a tablespoon of mustard.  You can add fruit juice or pureed berries as well, like raspberries.  Try adding a bunch of chopped fresh herbs, a few shakes of curry or saffron are delish too.   Another perfect one is adding 4 or 5 cloves of garlic cloves and a couple tablespoons of lemon juice.  You can also add honey and puree'd onions.  The list goes on, just make sure to keep the ingredients small (size wise) and mix it with a whisk until emulsified :)

Paleo Mayo

Almond Butter Garlic Sauce:

This is great over meat and fish!

1/2 cup almond butter

4 cloves garlic

3 tbsp ghee or clarified butter melted

Mix all the ingredients together, add hot water if you want it thinner.  It should be like a thick soup so it pours well and stays put at the same time.

Coconut Aminos, Balsamic and Butter Sauce:

My ultimate go to for all kinds of veggies.

2 tablespoons ghee or clarified butter

1 tablespoon coconut aminos

1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar

Paleo Ranch:

Chili Lime Fish Sauce:

Absolutely stupid good on all things stir fry/Asian cuisine.  My Dad tried to mimic a recipe from his favorite Thai restaurant and we've been making it ever since minus the MSG!  Da-doo, we should go there some time!! Actually, I'm gonna be in LA on Monday night for a client visit, can we have dinner there!?!?!? You guys have no idea the perfect-ness of this basil-chili-garlic-chicken dish there with a fried egg and this sauce smothered all over it. Gahhhhhhhhhhh *slurp*.

6-8 limes juiced

2 tbsp fish sauce

1 tsp red pepper flakes

1 serrano chili diced

1/2 tbsp raw honey

Combine all ingredients, make sure to keep a small portion of lime juice to the side in case the fish sauce is too strong for you.   It should be tangy and salty so don't be afraid to add more fish sauce if this makes you pucker too bad.

Welp, that's all I've got for now.  I was going to post a ketchup and a couple others but I haven't made them yet and I wouldn't want to share anything that wasn't tried and true!

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Since we're beginning a fresh new month, I have to check in on a couple goals I set for myself.

1.  I'd like to do a mini chore 2x per week for each week in February for Spring Cleaning! Check out my schedule below.  If I accomplish this, I get a new Lululemon something and if I don't, I have to spend a whole weekend at home with no fun stuff and do spring cleaning.

Spring Cleaning Schedule:

  • Week 1
    • Wednesday- Laundry folding/put away party!
    • Thursday- Go through giveaway clothes and fold for donation
  • Week 2
    • Tuesday- Clear off office desk and organize paperwork
    • Thursday- Fresh sheets, sweep, mop, clean windows in spare bedroom
  • Week 3
    • Tuesday- Finish cleaning office, organize workout stuff and sweep/clean windows.
    • Thursday- Attack the couch with a vacuum cleaner
  • Week 4
    • Tuesday- Organize drawers
    • Thursday- Organize clothes, shoes, sweep bottom of closet
I decided I can opt to do this stuff on the weekend if I want, as long as they all have check marks next to them by the end of February!

2.  I also said I need to work out for 3 consecutive weeks by March 31st.  This week is the beginning of those 3 weeks! I'd like to do boot camp 4x and either run, swim, bike or do yoga for the other day.

Lastly, I accomplished another goal as of yesterday! I got my ass off the couch and got ready for bed every single weekday during all of January! This sounds like a silly goal to most of you but I got in a bad habit of falling asleep on the couch and when Jeremy drags me to bed I would half ass brush my teeth and rarely wash my face.  Broke that bad habit, my skin looks better and I use my full 2 minute "cycle" on my buzz-y toothbrush.  My reward is a new dresser, I have no idea what I want yet but I'm going to start looking.  Our current dresser has 3 (our of 6) drawers that barely move and/or don't pull out all the way, it drives me BAT SHIT CRAZY!  This is going to be a sweet and sanity inducing reward :)

Ps.  I'm now the Director of Client Relations and I'm going to Israel in March! WOOOT!

Pps.  If you don't know who Jim Rohn is, google him and get yourself a copy of the audio book "The Art of Exceptional Living."  I'm about halfway through and it's SO amazing.  A life changer fer sure, thanks Jen and Nick.

Live to Thrive,

Lauren

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