Breadless Crab Cakes w/ Yellow & Green Parmasean Noodles

So, dinner last night was totally delish!! The recipe I followed for the Breadless Crab Cakes was pretty simple, but was a little time consuming. I would suggest maybe prepping them the day before and letting them sit in the fridge over night. It took about 20 minutes to mix everything and get all of the cakes formed and on pans. Then it has to sit for at least an hour in the fridge...so we ended up eating at about 8:30 pm. Tim was alright with that, but my 4-year old was a little antsy for her dinner. :)

I have copied and pasted the recipe from Mark's Daily Apple. All rights belong to him. The changes I made are in red beside the original recipe. I made a DOUBLE batch since Tim and I both love seafood and I wanted to make sure there was some left over for lunch for today. The recipe doubled up just fine. The recipe posted is NOT doubled.

Cost wise, this was a pretty expensive meal, but I figure we will have it once a month. The store I shopped at this week was a bit more costly than where I regularly shop, so you could probably get the crab meat cheaper elsewhere or even at a seafood market. I paid $30 for the crab meat and had the rest of the ingredients on hand. Tim and I were talking about the cost of crab meat and we determined that for the price and the fact we got nothing but meat, it was actually a good deal. You go to a restaurant and get a pound of crab legs and it will run you $20 easily...and most of the weight comes from the shell, not the actual meat.

Tim loved the crab cakes (so did I!) and my 4-year old gobbled hers up as well. So, this recipe will be repeated in the future for us!

2 pounds of crab meat yielded 22 crab cakes. There were 6 leftover after the three of us ate, which is what I brought for lunch today. As far as the "noodles", Tim and I both got a pretty decent sized portion...maybe about a cup each, my daughter got about 1/4 cup and there was about a cup left over for lunch.


Breadless Crab Cakes

Ingredients:

1 pound crab meat, combination of lump and claw (I made a double batch. I could not find lump, so I bought 2 pounds of claw meat and took one pound and chopped it up in my Ninja to make it a little more fine)
2 egg yolks
1 tablespoon finely chopped shallot or onion
2 tablespoons finely chopped celery
2 tablespoons finely chopped dill (for a double batch, I used 3 tablespoons because that is all I had)
1 teaspoon lemon zest (grated off the outside of a lemon)
1/2 teaspoon hot sauce
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1/3 cup olive oil
Directions:
Bundle the crab in a thin dishtowel and give it a few hard squeezes to release moisture. You’ll probably be able to get a couple tablespoons of liquid to drip out.

Whisk the egg yolks. Add the shallot, celery, dill, lemon zest, hot sauce and paprika. Gently mix this into the crab. The mixture is not going to look like it will hold together, but don’t worry.

To form the crab cakes all you need is a round cookie cutter about 2 inches wide. Using a tablespoon measurement, scoop 2 generous tablespoons of crab into the cookie cutter.

Press the crab down very firmly with your fingers. Gently lift the cookie cutter.

Using this method, you should be able to make at least a dozen crab cakes (I made 22 crab cakes out of 2 pounds of crab meat). Cover the cakes and refrigerate for one hour or more. This helps the ingredients bind together.

Preheat your oven to 375. On the stovetop, heat the olive oil in a pan. When the oil starts to sizzle, use a spatula to slide the crab cakes into the pan. Cook about 2-3 minutes on each side until they are browned and crispy. Don’t put too many in the pan at once.

Use a spatula to scoop the cakes out the pan and onto a cookie sheet. Put in the oven for another six minutes to make sure they are warmed through the middle. Garnish with dill.

The most important steps in this recipe are using the cookie cutter to shape the crab cakes and refrigerating them for at least an hour before cooking. Other than that, let your regional tastes take over. Add red pepper if you like or mustard. Play around with the seasonings. But forget all about the breadcrumbs. You won’t even miss them.

Yellow and Green "Noodles"

Ingredients:

2 yellow squash

1 zucchini

3-4 tbs butter (will vary depending on the quantity of "noodles" you make!)

Salt (to taste)

Pepper (to taste)

Parmesan cheese (to taste)

I make noodles with all sorts of different spices and seasonings. This is just one of my quick and easy go to recipes when I have a craving for noodles. You can use more or less squash or zucchini. You can use just zucchini. You can use just squash. You can pretty much use any type of vegetable to be honest!

I used my handy dandy Julienne Peeler and sliced up the squash and zucchini. I turned on the oven, put in the butter (sometimes I use more butter as well). Once the butter was nice and hot, I threw in the "noodles" and kind of sauteed them. I added salt and pepper while they were cooking. When the "noodles" started to get limp and could be easily twisted around a fork (like regular spaghetti noodles), I pulled them off the stove. You don't want to overcook because then they get mushy!

Before serving, I put on some Parmesan cheese.

You can adjust spices, cheeses, whatever to suit your taste. The noodles go great with just about anything. These are also the noodles I use for spaghetti!

My lunch for today :)

Meatza (Paleo Pizza!)

This is a recipe that I found on The Antihousewife website. I pretty much followed it exactly as she has it and she has some GREAT step-by-step photos included. I tweaked her recipe a little bit to suit my taste. My "tweaks" are noted beside the original recipe in red. This was extremely easy to make and took about 10 minutes to throw together (not including cooking time of about 15-20 minutes).

My 4-year old daughter LOVED it and gobbled up a pretty good sized piece. My lovely husband to be, who has no problem letting me know his true opinion on things I cook...well...the first words out of his mouth, after he'd already eaten about 5 bites was: "I never want real pizza crust again!" So, this was a hit in our house!

As far as serving sizes go...I really don't know. I go by my body...I eat until I am full. Not until I am stuffed, but until I am full. This fed all three of us and there was enough left over for Tim's lunch and my lunch today. The "crust" was made on a 11 x 17 pan and shrunk to about 9.5 x 14.5 in size.

Cost wise--It was about $8.00 for the lean ground beef (I have seen it cheaper, but where I happened to stop and buy it at was a bit more expensive), I had all of the spices and the Parmesan cheese (it's about $2.50 for a canister, so let's say I used about $0.75 worth), the pizza sauce was $1.70, the cheese was $3.50, pepperoni was $2.50, and the bacon pieces were $1.59.  So, about $18.00 to make this, which, again, fed three people for dinner and two adults for lunch as well. In all fairness, I only used half of the package of pepperoni, bacon pieces, and half of the can of pizza sauce, so it really comes out to about $15.15, which is about the same price as a large pizza these days. I plan to use the leftover ingredients for something else (unless Tim wants another Meatza!)

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1-3 tsp salt (adjust for taste)
• 1 tsp parsely (I used 1 tsp of Italian seasoning instead)
• 1 tsp oregano
• 1 tsp garlic powder (I used 2 tsp instead of 1 because I didn't have any onion powder)
• 1 tsp onion powder (I left this out because I didn't have any!)
• 1 tsp celery salt
• 1 tsp coarse ground pepper
• 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes (more if you like it spicy!) (I used 1 tsp, but to me, it was still unnoticeable)
• 2 lbs. ground beef (I used 93/7...the lean stuff...to try to avoid as much "shrinkage" as possible..I also only used 1.7 pounds)
• 2 eggs
• Toppings: cheese, pizza/pasta sauce (check for added sugar if you purchase it) more meat, veggies and the like.  I cut everything small so it crisps quickly.

Hardware

• 1 11″ x 17″ (or larger) cookie sheet or half sheet pan (must have edges!)
• 1 large bowl
• 1 small bowl
• Aluminum foil  (optional but highly recommended)
• Latex gloves (again, optional but highly recommended)
• Safety gear – oven mitts and pot holders or a towel

Procedure
1. Preheat your oven to 450 degrees F.

2. Line your pan with the foil.(She explains and shows why on her site. It's simply to make clean up easier and it worked like a charm!)

3. Mix the parmesan and seasonings in the small bowl.  I read this on another blog and it was a great tip!  You don’t want to clean off your hands after mixing the meat to measure up, then mix again.  This way, you can just dump it in and get going.

4. Put on your gloves – they keep the meat out from under your fingers and make cleaning your hands much easier! More sanitary.  Then, mix the meat and the 2 eggs.  If you add the seasonings now, they’ll just clump up into the meat and you’ll have a hard time getting them mixed in evenly.  That’s the “why” of the 2 step process.  Just like making meatloaf!

5. Once the meat and eggs are mixed, dump the cheese/seasoning mix in.  Mix it around again to combine.  By the way, don’t worry about squeezing the mix.  It’s actually a good thing for the texture of the “crust”.

6. Dump the meat mix onto the pan and spread it evenly to cover all the corners.

7. Place in the over and bake for 10 minutes.  Since the meat is spread so thin, it will cook quickly.  While it bakes, if you haven’t prepped your toppings, you should!

8. Remove it when the timer goes off.  Drain the grease from the pan and pat off the goop on top (unless you like the goop, of course).  This is what you’ll have – the meat shrinks quite a bit.

9. Turn on the broiler in the oven, and top your pizza while you wait. (I used pizza sauce that had no sugar added, pizza blend shredded cheese, pepperoni, bacon bits...I bought the Hormel brand that is in a plastic ziploc type baggy...onions, bell peppers (on Tim's half!). But you can pretty much use any toppings you want!)

10. Place under the broiler.  Leave the door cracked so the element stays on the entire time – it will crisp up your meatza really well!  Keep an eye on it, but mine was ready in about 5 minutes.

Let it rest a minute so the cheese is firm enough to cut.

What is Paleo?

I've had a few people question what Paleo is...Below is a link to a pretty good introduction to a Paleo way of eating. I have also copied and pasted their food list (all rights belong to this site!)

I believe that site offers a great, brief, and simple overview of what Paleo is. I have also included another link to  Mark's Daily Apple...another wonderful site that is full of information. Mark's Daily Apple can sometimes be overwhelming because there is so much information that sometimes it is difficult to weed through everything. But, if you have the time, it's wonderful. Plus, there are a TON of "testimonials"/ success stories...from people who have lost 200+ pounds and are no longer diabetic, to children who were thought to have been autistic and upon changing how they eat, now show no signs of being autistic. 

One common thing I hear a lot is: "You are going to have a heart attack eating that way" or "So much meat is bad for you". I've had numerous people send my studies saying how meat is bad, or fat is bad, or this or that is bad (this is a whole new topic, but I'll just say, for every study that says something is bad for you, you can find one that says it is good for you...so I don't put much heed into studies these days). From my own personal experience, I can only say what has worked for me. And Paleo is what works for me. I was on not just one, not two, but THREE blood pressure medications by the time I was 25. I had high cholesterol. I was 100+ pounds overweight. My own doctor said "You are a walking heart attack waiting to happen." Within 45 days of starting to eat Paleo (about 90% of the time, I'd still get fast food on occasion when I was busy), I was able to stop ALL of my blood pressure medications. My cholesterol dropped significantly back into the normal range. The weight was literally falling off of me. In a later trip to the doctor she asked me how I had done it...I told her...she even admitted she was shocked.

I've "yo-yo" dieted all of my life. Atkins. Low-fat, high-carb. Cabbage soup. Grapefruit. Weight Watchers. Calorie restriction. And EVERY single time, I've thrown in the towel because I didn't feel good, I was always hungry, having to count every single calorie or gram of fat was time consuming and frustrating. I'd lose 20-30 pounds and then I'd gain it right back plus a little bit more. I could never stabilize my weight loss. Until Paleo. I lost the majority of my weight (from 240-155/160) in about 7 months. I kept that off for about a year before actively trying to lose more (I purposely did that because I knew my body needed time to readjust to all the weight I had lost in a relatively short amount of time.)

So, again, this it what has worked for ME. And it has worked for plenty of others. I'm not saying it is for EVERYONE...but how do you know it's not for you, unless you actually give it a try? There are websites that say to give it a try for 30 days and assess how you feel and how it has worked for you after that point. Hey...what's 30 days?

One thing I would add to their food list below is coconut oil. I use that pretty much to cook everything in. It does not get stored in your body like other oils/fats do because it is composed of medium chain triclycerides. If you are wanting to lose weight, substituting coconut oil for other oils or butter is a great way to go!

Unrestricted Foods

VEGETABLES

You can eat all of them without limit, except…
Vegetables to limit for weight loss:
Cassava
Sweet potatoes/Yams
Taro
Potatoes – stay away from potatoes if you have an autoimmune disorder

FRUITS

Limit fruit intake, especially dried fruit, for weight loss, according to some, but otherwise, eat all of them freely.

MEATS and EGGS

Eat meats and eggs freely, but in order to mimic our ancestors best, eat these products from animals that were grass fed/pasture raised.  At the least, steer clear of meats with preservatives and color or flavor enhancers, particularly added nitrites, as they can be pretty toxic.
Game Meats
Organ Meats
Pork
Beef
Chicken
Turkey
Goat
Lamb
Eggs – from chickens, ducks, emu, quail, etc.

FISH, SHELL FISH, FISH EGGS

All species are fine – just be conscious of mercury levels and ecological practices.  Know that smaller fish like anchovies generally have less bio-accumulation of heavy metals and toxins, and high levels of omega 3 fatty acids.

NUTS & SEEDS

All are good, as well as the butters that are made from them. Also on this list are coconut flour and almond flour. Peanuts are NOT NUTS – they’re legumes, and thus are not on the list. If you’re trying to lose weight, limit nuts and seeds to about 1 or 2 ounces per day, as the calories add up quickly!

SEA VEGETABLES

kombu, wakame, other seaweeds, algaes, etc.  They’re all good – great, in fact.

FATS

tallow
lard
coconut oil/milk
olive oil
walnut oil
avocado oil
macadamia oil
hazelnut oil
unrefined red palm oil
Watch your intake of all of these if you’re trying to lose weight – they’re very calorie dense.

BEVERAGES

Filtered or spring water
Herbal tea
Coconut water
Freshly juiced fruits and vegetables

EAT IN MODERATION

Coffee
Chocolate
Dried fruit
Alcohol (all kinds)
Caffeinated teas
Sweeteners – Raw honey, stevia, coconut sap

FOODS TO AVOID

Pasteurized Dairy – butter, milk, yogurt, kefir, cream, ice cream, powdered milk, and anything else from an animal’s teat. This is debatable in the Paleo community, so do your reading and choose for yourself. In our opinion, if you’re going to have dairy, you should make it raw, whole-fat, fermented dairy. Read more on that here.
Grains or grain-like foods - wheat, rice, millet, oats, spelt, kamut, quinoa, buckwheat, wild rice, amaranth, sorghum, rye, barley, corn.  AND any flour, noodle or other food made out of any of these.
Legumes – All beans.  Black, pinto, red, soy, lentils, peas, peanuts, adzuki, garbanzo, navy, mung, lima, black-eyed peas, you get the picture… Snowpeas, sugar snap peas and green beans are acceptable to eat.
Refined Sweeteners – sugar cane, white sugar, brown sugar, refined maple syrup, refined honey, aspartame, sucralose, Nutrasweet, Splenda, and anything else refined or man-made.
Highly Processed Oils - any oil that is hydrogenated, partially hydrogenated, fractionated, refined, or otherwise adulterated.
Most Vegetable Oils – Any oil with a high omega 6 content that comes from a seed, grain or legume, such as corn, soybean, sunflower, safflower, cottonseed, grape seed, peanut and others. Seeds like flax and hemp have a lower omega 6 content and thus are fine. Just don’t cook with those.
Fruit Juice – unless it comes straight from your juicer at home.
Soft Drinks – see “Sweeteners” above.
Refined, iodized salt – use unrefined sea salt instead

A little bit of history...

In August of 2010, I realized I was tired of being fat. I was tired of a lot of things about my life honestly. But one of the biggest issues I had was my weight. That is when I began my weight loss journey. Today, I am 107 pounds lighter than my heaviest weight (about 240 pounds). 

Now, I eat according to a paleo/primal lifestyle. Like a cave man (errrr...woman!). I believe that anyone that REALLY wants to lose weight, can. The only thing that stops us is...ourselves. Eating paleo has made me feel better, not only physically, but mentally. It has helped me maintain my weight loss and not see the pounds creeping back on. It has given me more energy. It has changed my relationship with food. To be honest, it has liberated me. 

So, this blog is really just my way to chronicle meals I make and to hopefully help at least one person that is on their journey to a healthier lifestyle. Another thing I hope to accomplish is to show others that eating paleo on a budget is NOT impossible. A lot of people feel eating paleo is so much more expensive, but it doesn't HAVE to be.

I hope whoever happens across this blog will find it helpful in some way. :)

 The above picture is my dad, my daughter, and myself. I was about 240 pounds there.

 This picture was taken after my first big drop of weight, I was about 155 in this picture.

 This picture...I was about 145.

And this picture...with the love of my life (!!)...I was about 140. I've lost some more weight since then, but don't have any good recent full length shots! I guess it's time to take some!