Day 2 ~ Birthday Lunch (including Cupcakes!) and Inside Out Burgers

I’ve put a 30 minute timer on myself for tonight’s post.  I’ve got to get to sleep!  Lots of work lies ahead this week.  Also, tomorrow is the weigh-in and body measurements for the Paleo Challenge.  The “before” workout is tomorrow and it’s the Fran benchmark WOD!

I was pleased with how smoothly today went.  We have our meals planned out for the work week and have our groceries for the next 5 days.  Although we had a family birthday party for my grandmother today, I helped prepare a lot of the food, so the menu was Paleo-friendly.  My mom had pizza for the kids though.  When my son announced that he was finished and handed me his crust, I had a few moments of mental torment as I walked it over to the trash.

Here is a rundown of the meals and recipes from today:

Breakfast-

Paleo Caprese Egg Sandwich

Fried Egg topped with sliced tomato and basil leaves sandwiched between two slices of Paleo bread.

Lunch-

Grilled strip steak

Brussels sprouts seasoned with olive oil, salt, garlic powder, and thyme with some green onions mixed in and roasted on a sheet pan at 400 degrees for 45 minutes.

Green beans sautéed in olive oil over medium heat for about 10 minutes and seasoned with garlic powder, oregano, dried minced onion, dry mustard powder, and some lemon juice.

Birthday dessert-

Strawberry Shortcake Cupcakes

Recipe from Against All Grain

http://www.againstallgrain.com/2012/08/27/strawberry-shortcake-cupcakes/

Even my almond-hating husband was really impressed with these!  My grandmother was thrilled too!  The frosting is an Italian meringue and calls for 2 raw egg whites.  I used the “Just Whites” brand of already separated egg whites sold in the pourable cartons since they are pasteurized (no worrying!).

Dinner-

Inside Out Turkey Guac Burgers with Kale Chips

I cooked Kirkland Turkey Burger patties in my cast iron skillet over high heat and used a lid.  Have you seen these?  I LOVE them.  They are super lean, and a clean ingredient list: white meat turkey, salt, rosemary, and pepper.  They come out perfectly after cooking 7 minutes per side.

Using a large serrated knife, I sliced each patty in half.  The meat slices become the top and bottom of the “bun.”  I dolloped some mashed avocado, salsa, and rings of red onion on one of the turkey burger slices and put the other slice of turkey burger on top.  Inside out burger—yum!  We’ve done the lettuce-wrapped burgers, but with those, I usually find that burger juice ends up dribbling all over my hands and runs down to my wrists.  Using the patty as the bun actually seems less messy!

I served kale chips with the burgers.  Those were super easy too!  I dumped half a 10 ounce bag of pre-washed, pre-cut kale into a bowl.  I tossed one tablespoon of olive oil over the kale and sprinkled some garlic powder, onion powder, cumin, oregano, and salt on top, tossing again.  I arranged the seasoned kale on 2 large baking sheets and baked them in a 275 degree oven for 30 minutes.  Tasty!