Cooking/Recipes, Health & Fitness, Paleo

Slow Cooker Mediocrity

I made another recipe in the Nesco today:  Slow Cooker Paleo Chicken with Parsnip Puree.  As with many of the slow cooker recipes I’ve tried, this one turned out fairly bland and uninteresting.  Again, perhaps I did not make this correctly (mine did NOT turn out looking as tasty at the picture in the blog post), but this turned out very tan tasting – very mild and uninteresting without a lot of flavor.  Tim liked the chicken, but to me the dish had that distinctive “slow cooker” taste to it.  I don’t think I would make this again.

To compensate for my lackluster supper, I went out for drinks with my coworkers and succumbed to the allure of the chips and queso at Kelley’s.  I was finally back down to the weight/size that I feel comfortable at, and then I go and chock myself full of processed cheese, msg, and all around crispy, cheesy tastiness.  Oh Heather, when will you learn?

I did do *something* proactive for my health today though.  I keep reading about the dangers of nut eating, and I eat a prodigious amount of almonds.  So I finally took the plunge and am in the process of properly preparing my nuts (he he).  I soaked them over night with a tablespoon of sea salt, and now they are roasting in the Nesco at about 175.  They’ve been roasting for about 11 hours, and they aren’t quite crispy yet, but even so they are already insanely delicious.  I can’t even describe the flavor.  I’m hooked. Next card party at the Longorias will definitely be accompanied by some freshly soaked and roasted nuts.  Tasty AND good for you.  You just can’t beat that.

I have no new recipes on the agenda for tomorrow.  Instead we are trying out a restaurant in LeClaire, the Crane & Pelican.  We may also check out the local winery tasting lounge and catch some live music.  Perhaps the Longorias will stay out past 8PM on this Friday night.  Weeeeeoooo!

We can’t stay out too late, though, because on Saturday morning we have to bike out to Sunderbruch park for the Beer & Bacon 5K.  We’ve never run the trails at Sunderbruch, so this promises to be an adventure.  I follow the group that runs out there every Monday, and they seem like really fun, positive, gorgeous people, so I’m looking forward to meeting them, eating some bacon, and drinking some free Great River beer.  Look forward to me complaining about drinking beer on Sunday.  You’ve been forewarned.  🙂

And with that, I’m off!