Ack. Seven consecutive night shifts were staring at me in the face, but I couldn’t pull the trigger on preparing food for the week ahead. Too lazy, I guess. The best I could muster was to sprinkle Magic Mushroom Powder on a couple of rib eyes before plopping them into the SousVide Supreme.
At least one of our meals this week will be a no-brainer.
After depositing the spawn at school, I headed to the women’s class at CrossFit Palo Alto, where we grunted under barbells to hit our CrossFit Total.
Although I PR’d on all three lifts, I’m embarrassed to admit that my total score was just a smidge above Alma’s and Webby’s over 300-pound one rep max deadlifts. No matter – I’m just proud that I can finally deadlift a decent amount more than my body weight.
When I came home, I made myself a frittata with the leftover saucy sausage and baby kale stuffing from last night’s dinner…
…and crammed some roasted yam purée into my belly.
Before the kiddos got home from school, I managed to get piles of laundry done and conked out for my pre-work power nap.
I woke up still unsure of what to make for dinner. Scavenging through the fridge, I eventually cobbled together the ingredients for an impromptu Paleo casserole: a large eggplant, marinara sauce, homemade dairy-free “cheese,” leftover braised beef shanks, and baby kale.
First, I sliced the eggplant into discs…
…before brushing on melted coconut oil and sprinkling the slices with Magic Mushroom Powder.
I stuck the tray of aubergine under the broiler (the only part of my busted wall oven that’s currently operational) for a couple of minutes on each side until they got nice and toasty.
I reheated the braised shanks in a cast iron skillet and added chopped mushrooms and baby kale.
Next, I messily poured Rao’s Marinara Sauce on the bottom of a baking dish…
…nestled the broiled eggplant slices in the sauce, and added dollops of my homemade “ricotta.”
I piled on the reheated meat and veggies…
…added more “cheese”, another layer of eggplant…
…and a final glop of marinara sauce.
I stuck the casserole in my super-awesome countertop toaster oven until the sauce was bubbly.
This casserole was a mash-up of two of my favorite Italian dishes: eggplant parm + lasagna with braised beef.
I know what you’re thinking: PALEO CHEESE? What’s in this dairy-free “ricotta”?
Any guesses?
Methinks you’ll be seeing this “ricotta” in a bunch of my dishes this fall…
