Autumn Monkey-ing Around & Paleo Chicken Nuggets with Baked Kale and Mushrooms

Put me in a playground and I'm a kid again. My favorite are the swings but I played on the monkey bars a lot as a kid where I would do tricks and get the grossest blisters (nowadays, it also reminds me that I need to work on my upper strength haha). Like the other flan ladies, I throw on a pair of tights and boots and consider it my fall outfit but since it was a warm day, I opt out on the tights. Plus, the prints and colors on this dress remind me of autumn leaves. :)

attempting to swing on the bars... with not much of a success. :P

autumn inspiration.

Paleo Chicken Nuggets

Normally I would use almond flour for this recipe but since I'm in the process of moving, I've been trying to use all my ingredients in the pantry. I ran out of almond flour and only had coconut flour so this particular meal became an experiment (and as usual I eyeballed the ingredients).

3 chicken breast
coconut flour
garlic powder
celtic salt
ground pepper
parsley 
chili powder
2 eggs, whisked
coconut oil

1. Preheat oven to 375F. 
2. Mix all dry ingredients together.
3. Cut chicken breast into nugget sizes. Coat chicken nuggets with eggs and dip into coconut flour mixture.
4. Heat up coconut oil and fry each side of nugget for about 1 min
5. Place on parchment paper and place in oven for 20 min.

Baked Kale
1. Preheat oven to 350F
2. Coat kale with olive oil and sprinkle some salt and pepper
3. Bake for 20 min

Bake Mushrooms
1. Preheat oven to 400F
2. Coat mushrooms with olive oil and whole black peppers
3. Bake for 30 min 

instagram: phuphubear

This meal was pretty tasty in my book. It's also pretty convenient to have a toaster oven because I was able to bake the kale and mushrooms at the same time. :)

Thanks for reading my September remix! 

<3, phu

Back to School

Caldo Verde

Portuguese Sausage and Kale Soup

My cooking is dependent on the ingredients I have on hand. I aim for little prep time and the least use of utensils possible. So for this kale remix, I decided to make a Portuguese soup called Caldo Verde. It's simple to make, healthy, hardy, and has a little kick. Perfect for brisk fall weather.

• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2-3 cloves of garlic (Pampered Chef Garlic Press)
• 3-4 potatoes (I used Japanese sweet potatoes)
• 4 sausages, preferably spicy, chopped
• 6 cups broth or stock
• 1 bunch kale, chopped
• salt, pepper, and water to taste

1. Chop sausage and brown in a deep pot while chopping onions and garlic
2. Remove sausage and sweat chopped onions and garlic
3. Add a little broth to deglaze the pot
4. Chop potatoes (with or without skin) and throw them in for a few minutes
5. Add broth and boil until potatoes are cooked while chopping kale
6. Remove from heat and mash potatoes or blend with mixer
7. Add more broth and water, chopped kale, and cooked sausage
8. Boil until greens are cooked to your liking
9. Add salt and pepper to taste

Fall reminds me of back to school shopping. You always got to get one staple item, one trendy item, and something unique. For me the staple is a good pair of boots, the trendy item is a colored skinny, and the something unique is my handmade cable knit scarf from Mama and this Cali Love necklace (stars on LA and the Bay).

Check out the homie Nicole, playing to the sunnier side of fall, with her neutral blazer (staple), colored skinnies (trend), and flowery flats and leafy accessories (unique).

Check out the homie Amelia, keeping it classy, in a black blazer (staple), burnt sienna cords (trend), and patterned silk scarf (unique).

What are your fall staple, trend, and something unique?

<3 C

ADDITION: September 26, 2012
A friend sent me this after reading the blog post, more great kale ideas!
Thanks, Emily T.

holding onto summer

My fall remix comes from my unwillingness to let go of summer. There are so many summer dresses in my closet and not enough hot days to wear them! So well into the fall, I wear my dresses with leggings, or with tall socks and boots to keep my footsies warm even if the weather isn’t.

Shakin' it up with kale

A few weeks ago I did a detox. After I discovered I couldn't button any of my jeans, it became clear that I needed to change some habits, and what it really boiled down to was drinking too much and eating poorly. So I decided that for two weeks I'd cleanse my system by going vegetarian and alcohol free for two weeks.

For some reason meat products to me means flesh. Dairy was ok but eggs and fish were out… at least for two weeks. So I was eating: wraps with dried seaweed, inside any combination of alfalfa sprouts, kale, cucumber, carrots and avocado, soba noodles with ginger scallion sauce.  the usual steel cut oats cooked with a lil soy milk and fruit and cinnamon, fig and goat cheese pizza.. etc etc.

One of the things that I've actually still been making semi regularly in the mornings is my kale shake. It's a funny looking sometimes chunky green drink (bc I’m too impatient to let it blend all the way) but I actually like the way it tastes and it keeps me pretty full while I’m starting my day.

I’m lucky enough to have moved in with roommates that have a bullet. I never knew how useful they are, but all I do is grab the cup, throw in some kale, whatever fruit I have on hand (banana, berries, peaches, nectarines, or plums so far), some soy or almond milk, plain yogurt if I have it on hand, and blend away. Sometimes if the fruit wasn’t ripe enough I’d add some agave or honey, but that only happened a couple of times. 

If you ever need to shake up your morning routine, I recommend you try this one.

<3 d

Kaleakopita!

Spanikopita is one of my favorite foods to snack on.  I love the crispy shell of the phyllo dough, and the cheesy spinach insides.

The day I made these, I had no spinach, but a huge bag full of kale that wasn't getting eaten.  I sent my sister out for phyllo (thanks, munchkin!) and started prepping these bad boys.  

I'm no pro, yet, at coming up with my own recipes on the fly, so I used this recipe to help me out.  I just replaced the spinach with kale, and used all feta instead of the 3oz of ricotta.

I hope you enjoy these flavorful little snacks as much as I did.

Thank you for joining me today!

<3 roe

Fall Away

I'm so excited Fall is just about here, or if you're in San Francisco, it's pretty much arrived.  The cool weather, luscious colors, and warm layers are some of my favorite things to work with.

 

I debated on this Trench cape for about a whole week.  I saw it online, loved it.  Picked it up during Friends & Family, then feared that it was a little too big/long for my shorter stature.  So, I had to throw heels in the equation to make sure the proportions were better, and that it didn't seem like the cape was going to swallow me.  

I'm definitely no seamstress, but C was getting ready for her art show, so we did a craft day at her place, and I decided to try out this skirt.  I'm in love with the pattern.  The reds, green, golds, give a little nod to Fall as it approaches.

{Outfit}

Trench Caplet: Banana Republic

Top & Necklace: Zara basics

Skirt: DIY

Heels: Enzo Angiolini

Arm Candy: Stella & Dot, Kate Spade (gifted)

Thanks for joining me this morning! and stay tuned later today for the Kale remix :D

<3 roe