Category Archives: paleo in madrid

Mar 17 2012
3 Comments
food, living in madrid, paleo in madrid, travel

La Mejor Frutería

One of the best things about living in Madrid is the availability of seasonal fruits and vegetables. I’ve talked about this before but I just felt the need to write about it again after my visit to one of the best local markets in town. This little frutería will probably never be visited by tourists or even most Madrileñas.  Hidden away in Barrio Lavapies, this little market sells some of the most delicious and fresh produce I have tasted to date. They also stock their shop with amazing seasoned Spanish olives and other sorts of pickled vegetables. However, despite the lush racks of vibrant fruits and vegetables, the real reason I visit this little stand is for the eggs. No, they aren’t anything special, but they come in bulk – a concept that is practically unheard of here. For only €2.40, I can buy myself 30 eggs as opposed to the dozen in the normal market for one Euro less. Such a steal!!! Located on Calle Santa Isabela near Aton Martín metro, this market deserves a visit if you ever make your way into Madrid.

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Jan 31 2012
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challenge yourself, paleo in madrid, workouts

Eat Clean, Train Mean

I saw this picture the other day.

I mean, that is a back if I’ve ever seen one….

< still staring >

ANYWAYS.

Since I had so much success with my note card calendar for the 21 Day Sugar Detox, I wanted to do another sort of challenge to myself.  In all honesty, it will essentially be a continuation of my detox this past month but I will be putting more focus on my training in the gym.  During the 21DSD, my training just naturally took a turn for the better, but it was never anything I really planned for.  This next month, I want to really put effort into strategically planning my workouts.  With that being said, more focus needs to be placed on macronutrient timing as well.  Basically, I am going to take everything up a notch!

This month has been inspired by that amazing picture posted above.  However, I love a good rhyme so I have renamed my challenge to The Eat Clean, Train Mean 4-Week Challenge.  This  challenge will focus on continuing my limitation of sugar as well as paying more attention to macronutrients in my meals.  Generally, I just throw some meat and veggies on a plate and go to town.  This month I want to put the extra effort into how I disperse macronutrients in my day according to my workouts.  Also, I will be planning my workouts more, most likely leaning toward a 2-day split schedule: lower body on one day, upper body on the other.  My cardio sessions will be short, but intense.  I will be doing about 20 minutes of interval cardio a day.

Clearly, I haven’t put too much thought into this.  But I love a plan.  And I apparently love little note card calendars.  So here we are, starting a new challenge.  This challenge will become more structured in the next few days, but I wanted to hold myself accountable and post about it.  I also wanted you to see that gorgeous back side. You’re welcome ;)

The Eat Clean, Train Mean challenge can be altered however you want!  It’s all about taking yourself to the next level, whatever level you are at.  We are already approaching February, my friends.  Move it or lose it on those resolutions!!  I would love to know how you are going to take on this challenge!

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Jan 19 2012
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food, paleo in madrid, random things i eat, recipes

Recipe: Salsa Chicken

Do you ever catch yourself throwing together a breakfast or lunch and thinking, “Ok, I need some meat in this but I don’t want to cook right now.  Hmm. hmmm…hmmmmmmmm.” And then you just throw in a can of tuna because it’s easy.  No?  Just me?  You all are paleo superstars that have pounds of precooked grass-fed beef and chicken?  Well get out of here then.  You don’t need me.

……..

Good.  Now that they’re gone,  I just had to come on here quickly and share this recipe because it was literally the easiest thing I’ve ever made.  Ever.  This dish makes amazing leftovers and that perfect throw-it-in-whatever protein when you aren’t feeling like Paula Deen (too soon?).

Salsa Chicken:

4 Chicken breasts
1 Jar of Salsa

Preheat your oven to 300 degrees F (150 C)

In a baking dish, place your chicken breasts and pour salsa over top.  I added just a bit of water to have a little more moisture, but that is up to you.  You can always add it later if you feel it necessary.  Cover dish with aluminum foil and cook for about 2-2 1/2 hours.  Once the chicken is thoroughly cooked, take two forks and shred chicken.  Recover and cook for another 15-20 minutes.

You can do this just as easily in a slow cooker if you have one.  I do not obviously.  As you can see by the state of my cookware, I am not living a life of luxury anymore here in Madrid.

Anyways, I hope you enjoy this recipe.  It has really become a new favorite of mine thrown into my scramble for breakfast!!

salsa chicken

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Jan 11 2012
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challenge yourself, paleo in madrid

Day 7(ish) of my sugar detox

Ok, so if you are looking at the dates (and time) of this post, you would notice that while it is day 7 of my detox, it’s not even 9am when I am writing this post.  So I haven’t exactly made it through day 7 yet but I’m feeling pretty confident … and now I have confessed to the entire world wide web that I did so it just has to happen.  No excuses.

So you might be wondering how I am feeling after 7(ish) days.  Obviously you are wondering that or else you wouldn’t have made it to this paragraph.  Please allow me to first thank you for your concern.  I greatly appreciate it!

At this point, I feel amazing!  Key words: ‘At this point’.  I did not feel amazing on days 1-3.  I was seriously battling some strong cravings and worked really hard to keep them at bay.  However, increasing my intensity at the gym and on my runs was making me feel exceptionally fit so I didn’t want to ruin my hard work by indulging.  Also, the sales on Victoria’s Secret website were quite inspiring (oh, how I wish to have my corporate salary again…sigh).  There were a few tactics I implemented in these first few days to help me withstand the dreaded sweet tooth.  Bear in mind my cravings come up generally in the evening when I am just roaming around the house with nothing to do.

  • First, since the weather has been really lovely lately, if I ever felt the strong urge to go buy something sweet, I would go for a walk instead.  Just a short walk, nothing strenuous, but this seemed to really help clear my head.  (You’ll notice I said ‘go buy something sweet’.  I don’t keep any unnatural, sugary foods in my house for this exact reason.  If it’s there, I will eat it.)
  • Secondly, I would follow my dinner with a mug of hot tea.  I have been reaching for apple/cinnamon or some sort of berry blend teas.  These seem to give me that sweetness I am looking for after dinner.  (Is it just a Southern thing to always follow dinner with dessert??  Trying to kick that habit!)
  • Lastly (but not least since I used this tactic most often), if I were getting a little out of control with my cravings due to boredom, stress, or any other factor (I crave sweets under all conditions, let’s be serious here), I would just go brush my teeth after dinner.  You might not know this about me, but I am very serious about my dental hygiene.  The three-step process occurs every night in my bathroom: floss, brush, and gargle.  I never skip a step.  Ever.  (You should see me trying to floss after a few…or more… glasses of wine!)  And because this is quite a structured and somewhat-time-consuming process, I definitely don’t want to do it twice.  Therefore, once I’ve brushed, nothing but water will enter my mouth.  Sometimes I feel a bit like I am back in my sorority days with crazy methods to lose weight and slightly neurotic…and then I just think ‘Who cares! This works!’

After around day 4/5 I was beginning to feel like I was in charge again.  That is such a great feeling!  Also, for some reason, I have been really interested in researching fitness/figure competitions, so looking at all that crap online has been quite inspiring.  No, I have no plans of competing – it has just always been an interesting process to me.

Crossing the days off at night may be a bit elementary, but it is extremely rewarding. Obviously I will be crossing off Day 7 when it is actually completed.

Anyways, how are you all doing on your sugar detox or any other health-related goals?  Remember that dieting is not something we aim for.  We want a healthy lifestyle.  That means for the rest of your life.  Small goals like this sugar detox only help to strengthen the healthy processes you are implementing in your life.  Keep up the great work and remember:  this is a marathon, not a sprint!

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Dec 01 2011
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food, friends and fun, oh my thank you, paleo in madrid

The Feast

So I realize this post is quite late considering we have already crossed into December, but I couldn’t let another day pass by before I wrote about The Feast.

The Thanksgiving Feast of 2011.

The first Thanksgiving Feast for most of the people I cooked for and a small piece of home to a special visitor I hosted during the holiday week.

The Menu:

Meat and Cheese Plate

Dates stuffed with goat cheese and topped with Pistachios

Roasted Pork (a whole turkey here in Spain will run you about 40 euro.  No thank you.)

Beef Roast

Mashed Cauliflower

Broccoli Casserole

Roasted Sweet Potatoes

Coconut Rice (provided by one of the feast attendees)

Herb Gravy

Grain-free Chocolate Fudge Cake with Cheesecake Swirl

In my opinion (and based off the 15 minutes of silence immediately after dinner was served), the food was absolutely delicious!  I have never cooked for that many people or in such quantities so I was quite impressed with myself when everything turned out so well.  Just goes to show that you can enjoy a hearty yet healthy holiday season with your loved ones!  I will begin to post the recipes for the various dishes, but for now you can drool over the photos.

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Nov 19 2011
3 Comments
food, paleo in madrid, random things i eat, recipes

Recipe: Roasted Red Pepper & Tomato Soup

When my Spanish roommates heard I was making hot tomato soup, the both cringed in horror.  Tomato soup in Spain is always served cold.

They like to call it gazpacho.  I like to call it cold soup.

Anyways, during the Great Depression of last week when I had yet to receive my paycheck from my agency, I was getting quite creative with how I stretched my dollar  euro.  In my desperation, I came up with one of the best tomato soup recipes I have ever tasted.  And it probably only cost me about 4 euro for the entire pot.

Roasted Red Pepper & Tomato Soup

Ingredients

2 cans crushed tomatoes
1 jar of roasted red peppers
1 medium onion, chopped
5-6 cloves of garlic, minced
1 cup water
1 cup chicken stock
3 tsp rosemary
2 Tablespoons of dried basil
1 Tablespoon black pepper
salt to taste (I used about 1 Tablespoon)

Literally the easiest process ever:

Throw everything into the pot and let simmer for about 30-45 minutes.  The longer it simmers, the more developed the flavors will become.  I took this time to wash my hair which, if you know me, is quite the process.  After about 45 minutes, take your hand blender and blend until smooth (you can also throw it into a food processor if you don’t have one of these kitchen robots).

everything in the pot getting nice and toasty

after about 30 minutes of simmering

the perfect fall soup

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Nov 05 2011
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oh my thank you, paleo in madrid

Thanksvember 2011: Eat your veggies

You wanna know something I really miss about the United States??

This.

Whole Foods on Ponce de Leon Ave - Atlanta, GA

Not necessarily this particular location.  Any of you from Atlanta will know what Ponce de Leon Avenue is like and probably agree with me.  But what I miss more than the actual store is the sight you see when you walk in to any Whole Foods.

produce, produce, and more produce

What I really miss about home is the year-round availability of various fruits and vegetables.  I miss it a lot.  Unfortunately, produce in the United States gets a bad rap for its prices.  It’s actually expensive to eat healthy.

(trying to be thankful…)

So what I am  thankful for here in Spain is the price of produce.  Since they only host fruits and vegetables that are in season in the markets, the prices are significantly cheaper.  It makes eating Paleo that much easier!  Also, it makes me so much more excited when a favorite will start popping up at the store.  Let’s take clementines for example.  Clementines in the USA run about $5 for a crate of them.  I imagine the crate is about 1 kilo or around 2lbs.  Please correct me if I am wrong.  Here in Spain?

40 euro cents a kilo!

I was practically jumping for joy when I saw this and had to buy some.  Of course they were delicious especially because they were in season.  I probably won’t find them in my market in a couple months so I am enjoying them while they last.  That is the fun part I am finding out.  A favorite is in season for a couple months and you are able to experiment with all different types of recipes.  Around the time you might run out of ideas, it isn’t in season anymore and you are on to the next.

Not to mention, I haven’t received a steady paycheck since…ahem…MAY, so I am loving that fact that I can eat healthfully on a budget.

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Nov 02 2011
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food, paleo in madrid, random things i eat, recipes

wtf is a ham hock?

I still don’t really know.  I think it is like a weird joint or knuckle of the pig.

Anyways, I went into the carnicería (butcher shop) next to my house in attempts to buy a pork butt.  Before leaving the States, I had been trying to perfect pulled pork and barbecue sauce recipes.  I pretty much nailed the pulled pork but the barbecue sauce needed some work (hence, no recipe yet).  The only way I knew to describe this cut of meat to a Spaniard is by referring to it as “the shoulder of the pig” or hombro del cerdo.  I even pointed to my shoulder and added in gestures, which might I add has made me very popular in this butcher shop (you try gesturing “chicken breast” and tell me what you come up with).  Needless to say, my Spanish has failed me once again and I walked home with 2 kilos of chicken breast and a ham hock.  No pulled pork in sight.  No barbecue sauce.  No delicious, succulant leftovers.

So now what?  I have this weird, bone thing with like a 1/2 an inch of fat covering it.  Well I did what anyone would do.  I sent out a tweet for help.

cry for help

Nom Nom Paleo and The Food Lover’s always feature weird cuts of meat on their sites and pretty much know how to cook anything.  I never expected a response, but I was pleasantly surprised to receive this about an hour later.

got a little celebrity shy for a minute when I saw this

If the Food Lover’s say so, it must be true.
So that’s what I did.

It was a holiday here in Spain on Tuesday so everything was closed.  Literally everything is closed on holidays.  Remember, we don’t like to work here.  I am definitely okay with that.  But all I had in my kitchen was beef stock, onions, garlic, and some dried herbs.  Apparently that was all I needed to make the most delicious broth/stock I have ever tasted.

There was no real recipe but here is a general idea of what went down in my bitchin’ kitchen.

1 weird ham hock
3/4 box container of beef stock (good measuring, right?)
3 cups water
1 onion, sliced
5 cloves of garlic, chopped
liberal salt and pepper
1 bay leaf
1 Tablespoon of dried Rosemary

Let it come to a boil and then reduce to simmer.  Simmer for 2 (or more) hours.

boiling the ham hock in beef stock and water with onions, garlic, bay, and rosemary

about 2 hours later. you can see the mess it made when it boiled over.

the minimal amount of meat that comes from a ham hock

liquid gold

Moral of the Story:

Don’t trust your Spanish butcher.
When you ask for advice, take it.

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Oct 27 2011
2 Comments
challenge yourself, food, paleo in madrid, teaching, workouts

HEY YOU GUYYYYYYS!

Goonies? Anyone? No? ok.

So, you might be asking yourself, “what has Sarah been up to lately?”  Or not.  That’s fine.  Either way, you are here and I will tell you what I have been up to.

1.  All of my classes are officially in session which means I actually have things to do each day instead of roam around the streets.  Even though the latter is way more exciting, it doesn’t pay very well.  In fact, I usually come back with less money than I started with.  So financially speaking, this is a good thing.

2.  I signed up for a 5K and 10K race here in Madrid.  I know I am a big advocate of HIIT and not distance running, but honestly I needed some sort of goal.  My motivation starting around February is usually the new line of bathing suits from Victoria’s Secret.  That catalog gets me every time!  From the second I open my mailbox, the rays of sunshine and the pages upon pages of abdomens and boobs induce me into a swimsuit coma where I silently repeat to myself “get your ass out of the house and move a little so you can wear these skimpy-and-sexy-yet-nearly-$100 pieces of polyester”.  Speaking of, in case you haven’t noticed (or don’t check every three days like I do) they have already released their 2012 preview of suits even though summer ended like last weekend.

If this cute bathing suit doesn't get you off the couch, I don't know what will

Anyways, since we are quickly making our way through Fall and into Winter, the thought of wearing a bikini not only gives me goosebumps but quickly reminds me of my favorite reason for the season: not shaving my legs.  Yes, boys.  That is the real reason women are so jolly around winter time.  We spend about 8 months out of the year with that damn razor practically glued to our hands and taking twice as long in the shower to make sure that you have something smooth to brush up against.  But where there is cold, there are leggings. And boots.  And boot socks.  And all things that cover up those legs that have now gone pale and prickly.  And for that, we celebrate the Winter season.

OFF TOPIC.

I signed up for the two races to give me a good reason to get out in the cold and do something with myself.  Since I don’t have a gym membership here in Madrid, it gets quite repetitive to workout in my home and I’m sure my neighbors would appreciate me slamming that salt bag somewhere other than above their apartment.  So I decided to incorporate an old love of mine, running, into my workout schedule.

So I’ll keep you all updated with my training.

3.  I have decided to host Thanksgiving Dinner here at my apartment and have wasted spent multiple hours searching for the perfect Paleo recipes.  So far on the menu: some sort of bird (don’t know if I can find a whole turkey here), mashed sweet potatoes, broccoli & cauliflower casserole, herb gravy, and grain-free pun’kin pie ya’ll.  I will be posting my recipes prior to Thanksgiving so you can try them out with your family!  The holidays are not a good reason to let your health slip!  Let everyone else be gluttonous while you stay fit, trim, and sexy.

4.  Also, in lieu of the holiday season, the whole month of November here on Life With a Fork will be dedicated to giving thanks.  Everyday I will be posting about something I am thankful for as well as keeping up with some of my current topics like random things I eat and my crazy European life.  Stay tuned for that!

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Sep 26 2011
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life, paleo in madrid, random things i eat

still on the hunt

Ok, I know you all are sick of hearing about my inability to find coconut oil in Madrid.  And if you follow me on twitter, I’m sure you already have your mouse ready to close this page.  But seriously, this is getting ridiculous.

Anyways, I am entering into my last week of TEFL school so soon enough my blog posts might be a bit more exciting since I won’t be eating like a college student.  I can’t wait to have some money in the bank!  Although I have enjoyed not working….tough call.  Sugar daddy? Are you out there?  Tweet me.

Also a part of my hunt through Madrid was to find a good hot sauce.  I was seriously addicted to Frank’s Red Hot Sauce back in the states and have been seriously missing it.  I did find this asian hot sauce that nearly killed me when I put it on my chicken.  But sometimes there is an adrenaline rush that comes with putting hot sauce on food so I enjoyed every bite!

Here are some pictures of some things I’ve been eating.

tomatoes

I am really trying to force myself to like tomatoes. My plate looks prettier with them, don't you think? Omelet on the other hand could be prettier.

dinner

random dinner: chicken thigh, cailiflower, sauteed veggies, and weird spanish sausages I was testing out (they were okay, but won't repurchase)

I did do a fun tourist day and posted all about it on my other blog!  Check it out!

 

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