My word. Can it really be June already? 

Halfway through my graveyard shift at the hospital, I chowed on leftover sliced steak and roasted veggies.

When I returned home in the morning, I ate a handful of macadamia nuts and promptly passed out in the guest room.

In the evening, I stumbled out of bed to prepare dinner. I didn’t have much to cook since I was simply reheating the cheater oxtail stew that I’d pressure cooked the other day.

 To accompany the stew, I roasted a tray of cauliflower…

…and stir-fried some baby kale.

Once the stew was piping hot…

…I topped it with a shower of minced Italian parsley.

Here’s my dinner plate:

I know this is pretty hearty fare for a summer supper, but I love braised meats any time of year. I’m crazy like that.

Before I sign off, I wanted to let you all know that the latest update of the Nom Nom Paleo iPad cooking app has been approved by Apple. For those of you who have already purchased it, you can download the latest version now.

(By the way, if you previously bought the bonus recipe sets, it may LOOK like you need to buy ‘em all over again — but you DON’T! Just hit the “purchase” button again, enter your password, and an alert will come up that says “You’ve already purchased this. Tap OK to download it again for free.” See? I’m not a crook!)

If you’re enjoying the app, please review it at the iTunes store. Every rating/review makes a huge difference!

Don’t know about the app? You can read about it here or watch this video:

Toodles!

In lieu of attending Saveur Magazine’s Best Food Blog Awards soiree in NYC (as the winner of the Best Special Diets Blog), I stayed put and followed my regular zombie drug dealer routine. Believe me — I was totally crestfallen when I wasn’t able to finagle my way out of work. With only two weeks’ notice, it was impossible to find coverage at the hospital so I could hob nob with my food blogging idols.

Oh well. 

To make matters worse, my first graveyard shift of the week was super busy. In fact, I didn’t have time to eat my packed lunch until I returned to the hotel in the morning. My meal consisted of deli roast beef, sauerkraut, and sliced avocado.

It was nothing fancy but my grub hit the spot.

After the kids were dropped off at school, I came home and seasoned a couple of New York steaks…

…and dunked them in the SousVide Supreme. I was soaking these steaks for Big-O’s remaining school lunches (Lil-O still insists on scrambled eggs).

Before I nodded off, I skimmed through my new copy of It Starts With Food. Unlike Melicious, I hate reading but I’m so excited to read this book. The Hartwigs’ new opus has actually supplanted Andy Cohen’s Most Talkative as my go-to leisure reading when I’ve got a few minutes to spare. What are you waiting for? Go pre-order it now by clicking here!

When I woke up in the late afternoon, I fished the steaks out of the water oven, stored one in the fridge, seared off the other…

…and sliced it up.

Then, we all went out to dinner at Steak Out (again)…

…where I ordered the sirloin platter.

Quelle surprise!

I downed an espresso with heavy cream, packed my lunch, and headed to the hospital for another shift as the all-mighty drug vending machine.

I’m totally looking forward to my week off – BlogHer Food, here I come! Who else is gonna be there?

Today was my Flip Day, the Wednesday when I morph back into a zombie drug dealer. That means my last waking moments during the daytime were jam-packed with errands and cooking.

In the morning, I helped get the kids ready for school before heading to the women’s class at CrossFit Palo Alto. I made sure to fuel up on protein and fat by scarfing down some scrambled eggs and a handful of macadamia nuts.

Post-WOD, I gobbled up a package of spicy Grass Fed Jerky Chews and roasted chestnuts.

To be honest, I don’t love the taste or slimy texture of bagged chestnuts but they’re a quick source of carbohydrates when I don’t have any pre-cooked yams available. If you’ve got fresh ones, by all means roast ‘em.

In the two hours I had left before hitting the sack for my afternoon nap, I deboned and seasoned a bunch of chicken thighs to make Sous Vide Crispy Chicken Thighs.

In the past, I would buy the thighs already prepped but nowadays I’m a pro at quickly deboning them with a pair of kitchen shears. Plus, I reserve the bones for bone broth like a good Chinese mommy.

For lunch, I seasoned and fried up a flat iron steak…

…that I served with stir-fried baby kale.

I ate about a third of the steak and saved the rest for packed lunches.

Then, I went to bed for a couple of hours to rest up for my all-nighter.

When I woke up in the evening, I plopped the kids in front of the telly to watch last night’s America’s Got Talent while I fixed dinner.

Big-O now loves Howard as much as I do and I couldn’t be happier.

I roasted a tray of broccoli in the oven…

…browned a few Portobello mushrooms in the toaster oven…

…and fried up the chicken thighs that I pulled out of the SousVide Supreme.

I sprinkled grey sea salt on the crispy skin.

Here’s my dinner plate:

Psst! Don’t forget to sign up for my latest giveaway!

**UPDATE on 6/2/12: The giveaway is OVAH! Congrats to Amy Tran & Eatliftbreathe!**

I don’t care that it’s swimsuit season. For me, it’s always the right time for knee high socks. After all, there’s no better way to protect one’s shins during deadlifts than with awesome unisex socks emblazoned with BACON, MEAT, CHOCOLATE, NERD, and NOM NOM PALEO!

Gumball Poodle makes the best knee highs, hands down. I own all the Paleo-friendly ones — sorry, I don’t do TOFU socks — and I’m such a superfan that I commissioned the company to make NOM NOM PALEO socks. They’re comfy and stay up no matter how crazy the WOD. 

These NOM NOM PALEO socks are no longer available for sale (those suckers sold out in a flash!) but I’ve reserved a few last pairs to give away.

(Photo of Mee Lee of MeeNut Butter fame by George Bryant of Civilized Caveman Cooking Creations)

So here’s the deal: I’ve got variety packs of Gumball Poodle socks for two lucky winners! Each winner will receive a pair of BACON, MEAT, CHOCOLATE, NERD, and NOM NOM PALEO socks. All five pairs! And they look equally awesome on gals AND guys!

(Pop quiz, hotshot! How many people can you name in this photo?)

What are the contest rules?

You must:

•  Be a U.S. resident (sorry, international folks!)
• “Like” the Gumball Poodle Facebook fan page
• “Like” the Nom Nom Paleo Facebook fan page
• Leave one (ONE!) comment at the end of this blog post telling me you followed directions!

• (OPTIONAL) EXTRA CREDIT: You can earn an additional entry by linking to http://app.nomnompaleo.com and sharing a nice comment about my iPad app via Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Tumblr, or your blog! Just post a SECOND comment below with a link to your post!
• All entries must be received no later than Friday, 6/1/12, at 11:59 p.m. PST

Good luck!

Geez, is it Tuesday already?  

This morning, it was the usual hustle and bustle to get the kiddos fed, washed, and packed up for school. Luckily, I had a box of leftovers to scarf down for breakfast.

(Helpful tip #1: Save every last scrap of leftovers no matter how small. I repurposed “old” meat and veggies for breakfast and lunch today.)

For lunch, I made myself a quick stir-fry with leftover duck confit, shallots, trumpet mushrooms, and tatsoi greens.

(Helpful hint #2: Stir-fry will save you every time you’re in a quandary about what to eat. We Chinese peeps invented everything that’s awesome. And we’re so modest, too.)

We returned to our house in the late afternoon because I can’t stand cooking at the Inn. I put on a pot of cheater pressure cooker oxtails for tomorrow night’s dinner…

… and seasoned a small tri-tip steak (that I butchered myself!).

Once the steak was at room temperature, I seared it in a pan before finishing the beef off in the oven.

While the steak was resting…

…I broiled a tray of asparagus…

…and smashed up a bowl of guacamole.

Once the veggies were finished, I sliced up the steak…

…and plated my supper.

Before I turn in tonight (which, incidentally, will be the last time I hit the sheets at nighttime this week), I just wanted to let you in on a little secret: I’m having another giveaway tomorrow morning!

Stay tuned.

Happy Memorial Day, peeps! 

While my hubby was blazing through Murph with our buddies at CrossFit Palo Alto…

…I savored a leisurely breakfast of scrambled eggs…

…and bone broth back at the hotel.

We reunited midmorning and met up with our buddies, S & J. As you can see, I got my exercise on as well…

…and the boys got their fill of canines and baseball.

It breaks my heart that Big-O wants a pet so badly — but it ain’t gonna change my mind about keeping the Nombomb cave a pet-free zone.

For lunch, we ordered takeout from Asian Box.

Yep, it was deja vu all over again.

My hubby and I split a double chicken box…

…and a double pork box for the nth time…

…and there weren’t any complaints from the non-peanut-eating gallery.

In the afternoon, we came back home to wash mountains of dirty laundry and raid our fridge for meat and veggies to bring back to the hotel.

At dinnertime, I roasted a tray of sliced king trumpet mushrooms seasoned with Sunny Spain…

…and a couple of yams.

While the veggies were getting toasty in the oven, I fried Turkish sliders…

…and sautéed a big bag of spinach and sliced shallots in the remaining burger grease.

Here’s my dinner plate:

It’s finally cherry season again so I gobbled up a small bowl of them for dessert.

It was really nice getting nine(!) hours of sleep last night so I’m hitting the sack NOW.

Good night!

Happy Saturday, folks! It sure feels like Friday to me since it’s a three-day weekend, and I like it.

When I woke up this morning, I slurped up a bowl of meaty bone broth that I topped off with leftover roasted broccoli.

I also ate two scrambled eggs with sliced avocado because I needed more protein and fat. Doesn’t everybody?

We dawdled around the hotel room, surfing the interwebs for Weird Al song lyrics until it was time for lunch. (I know I can be snarky and sarcastic but I’m being dead serious here.)

At noon, we drove to Big-O’s favorite spot, Tootsie’s, and chowed outside under overcast skies.

It was so chilly, the heat lamps were turned on to warm the patio. Ker-azy.

Three of us ordered the braised short rib sandwich sans bread…

…and Lil-O, the outlier, ordered scrambled eggs.

In the afternoon, I seasoned and dunked a few pork chops into the SousVide Supreme…

…before we ran/biked to Big-O’s school.

Our house ain’t fixed yet, but the contractor did drop off our new flooring so we’re making a smidge of progress.

Since I was super sore from yesterday’s WOD, it felt good to stretch my muscles as I scampered after the kids on the playground.

Then, we met J and M at the mall — where the boys ran around some more.

It makes me so happy when M refers to the Double-Os as his cousins.

By the time we returned home, it was dinnertime. Thankfully, the pork chops were finished cooking and all I had to do was sear them and make some veggies.

I chopped broccoli, shallots, and shiitake mushrooms….

….tossed everything with Spice Hound’s seasoning sea salt…

…and macadamia nut oil before popping the tray in a hot oven.

When the veggies were roasted, I drizzled on aged balsamic vinegar…

…and seared the pork chops in melted ghee.

Here’s my dinner plate:

For dessert, I savored a few squares of dark chocolate.

Although I love E. Guittard’s 91% cacao Nocturne bars, I’ve decided to find an alternative without soy lecithin since Mark Sisson says it’s not okay anymore. After reading Charissa’s chocolate recs on Balanced Bites, I bought one of these bars and loved it.

Just a friendly reminder that I won’t be posting a new Paleo Eats tomorrow ‘cause I’m allowing myself pizza every other Sunday. Kidding, of course. I’ll be back with a new post on Monday after I’ve had time to recharge with my family tomorrow. Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Someone’s representin’ at the CrossFit Games North West Regionals!

Cutest. Ever. 

Yay for Nom Nom Paleo shirts and kid-sized CrossFit equipment!

I’m yawning as I type this post, so I’m gonna be brief, yo!

Before I sped off to the women’s class at CrossFit Palo Alto this morning, I gulped down a couple of bowls of meaty bone broth for breakfast.

It’d been almost a month since I last set foot in the gym, and I’d missed sweating with my buds and throwing a heavy barbell around. Okay, my bar wasn’t super heavy, but it was heavy enough. I already feel sore all over.

When I returned home, I reheated a few Asian umami mini meatballs and scarfed them down with half a nuked yam.

For lunch, I fried a simple omelet stuffed with leftover seasoned ground lamb and greens.

I also ate a pack of SeaSnax and a package of roasted chestnuts.

Afterwards I checked the mail and squealed when I saw I’d received an advance copy of Dallas and Melissa Hartwig’s It Starts With Food.

Anytime one of you readers asks me a question about what, why, and how to eat, I’m just going to refer you to this engaging, no-nonsense, practical reference. This book’ll answer every question you conjure up. Go pre-order it NOW by clicking here.

At dinnertime, we had a casual adults-only dinner at Asian Box.

I know I’ve been frequenting this spot a lot lately (and Steak Out, too), but that’s one way I’m similar to my dad. Once we find a restaurant we like, we’ll visit obsessively — that is, until the day we get a bad meal. Then, we never, ever go back again. Thankfully, that hasn’t happened with Asian Box! 

Tonight, I ordered the 6-spice chicken over Asian vegetable salad (no dressing), steamed vegetables, fresh herbs, jalapeno, bean sprouts, lime, caramel egg, pickled vegetables, and fish sauce.

We also tried the Jungle Jerky which (due to the tamari and sugar) ain’t Paleo, but was gluten-free and dang tasty. 

Okay, peeps — I need to go sleep off the soreness from all the barbell work. Time for bed!

I’m back and somewhat refreshed from my mini blogging vacay. Last night, I read another giggle-inducing chapter from Andy Cohen’s best-seller, Most Talkative, and snoozed for a solid 8 hours. I even woke up before the Double-Os — which never happens.

This morning, I gobbled up a frittata filled with leftover broiled asparagus and carnitas…

…and downed two mugs of bone broth before working at Lil-O’s preschool for the last time. It was a bittersweet morning filled with a charming teddy bear picnic, sand play, and sunshine. I’ll relish having more free time next year but I’ll miss hanging out with the kids and the selfless teachers at the co-op. 

At lunchtime, I came back to our dusty house to fry up some meat and veggies. Construction is finally starting next week and I’m trying to get in as much cooking as possible before the kitchen is off-limits.

I grabbed a package of ground Lava Lake Lamb…

…stir-fried it with leftover green marinade…

…sauteed baby kale & chard…

…pan-seared a portobello mushroom…

…and piled everything on a plate.

By the time I finished cleaning up the mess, it was time to pick up the Double-Os from school. 

When it was time for supper, I made a big batch of Asian umami mini meatballs (a modification of Graeme’s WODs) where I omitted the egg and and added shiitake mushrooms, Red Boat Fish Sauce, and cilantro. 

While the meatballs baked in the oven…

…I stir-fried a bunch of rapini in melted butter. 

Here’s my dinner plate:

I need to catch some shuteye so I’ll smell you later!