On Moving

OMG guys, I'm moving to San Diego!

Even though it's something I've been talking about a lot, and even more once the work and living situations were figured out, it's important for me to address it in blogville. I've thought a lot about what I was going to write here but putting down the words never felt right until now. Hopefully this all comes out as good as it sounded in my head.

Let's start at the beginning. I've always wanted to live in San Diego. I was never happy growing up in Los Angeles and I knew nothing about Northern California. When college applications came out, I was so excited about the possibility of going to UC San Diego. When I got in - I was ecstatic... and then a few days later the last school acceptance came in and I found out I got into Berkeley. Even though I knew Berkeley was the better school, I still wanted to visit both and really decide between a great school and a place I really wanted to live. However, on my tour of UCSD, even the current students told me I couldn't turn down Berkeley. Of course I couldn't. Off to Norcal it was.

It's crazy to think that was 10 years ago. I always thought I'd move back South when I graduated but relationships kept me in the Bay Area. When I was single for the first time in 5 years, I'd fallen in love with San Francisco and couldn't imagine leaving...

Until I could.

Anyone who lives in the Bay Area knows that things have been changing. The draw of San Francisco's awesome activities and the growth of the tech industry in Silicon Valley have made the Bay Area one of the most desirable places to live in the world. However, the area isn't suited for the growth it's seen over the years. Apartments cannot be built fast enough and those that already exist are a hot commodity. As someone who does not live in a rent controlled apartment, I've seen my rent increase 30% in three years and that was with my landlords cutting me a lot of slack for being a good tenant.

My apartment though - has not seen 30% of improvements. If anything, the quality of living in my area has decreased sharply. With questionable neighbors and even more questionable people visiting the local hot spots, safety and sanitation had become a big problem. However, finding a new place was out of the question. For as much as our apartment in San Diego will cost, we could barely find an in-law apartment in someone's garage in Glen Park. To me, it seemed like the City was becoming a third world country - with apartments only rich can afford and concessions made for low income housing, the middle class of the Bay Area (which would easily be upper class anywhere else) have no place to go.

We thought about other cities in the Bay Area but everywhere we could think of meant longer commutes, living in a place we weren't excited about, and all for what wasn't much savings... so we decided to look elsewhere.

Actually I'm just going because there
is a bar called The Lincoln Room
Jk... it closed :(

If I had to decide what would exist in my perfect city, I would want a place that had that small city, fun, young feel of San Francisco but with the weather and beaches of LA that I've missed so much. It didn't take long to decide on San Diego. We browsed prices and looked at the lifestyle down there and it was clearly a great place. I'd been there a few times to visit my brother and always had a great time.

So all of that above - that's been on repeat out of my mouth when people ask why we are moving. And then someone said "but I'm sure a fresh start would be nice too..."

And the mask of bullshit just fell away.

All those things above are definitely what sparked the move and what sound great in conversation, but I'd be lying to you if I didn't say there was more to the story. I've had a lot of great memories in San Francisco. I have some of the best friends ever. However, for every good memory, there are bad ones too. I had my heart broken for the first time. I met a lot of jerks. I lost friends. I've made poor choices. I worry when I go out that I'll bump into someone I dated. My heart races when I think about what would happen if I ran into my ex-boyfriend. And although we already were well into our plans to move, when Rocco died it really felt like the final straw on a big pile of straws of bad memories. Bad memories make you stronger. They make you into a better person. They help you realize what's important. But most of all - they really suck. Bad memories hurt and break your heart a little whenever you have a reminder of them even if everything else in your life is super.

The idea of going to a place where I have a little family and a few acquaintances, and a giant blank slate sounds amazing - and I get to do it with a grumpy cat and the best boyfriend ever in an apartment I am so excited to call my future home in a city that looks like a wonderful place to live. I'm excited to have a fresh start with him and Callie and hopefully a new little addition to our family (a puppy guys - just a puppy) and to do it all in a place where we can afford to live comfortably and save for our future.

Dealing with the Loss of a Pet

Since I started this blog, I've written on a lot of difficult and personal matters. This blog post is easily the hardest. Earlier this week, I lost a true love of my life - my cat, Rocco. It's difficult to talk about it and hard to not tear up at the thought of him but I think writing a blog post is a good way to answer questions and to honor his memory.

I got Rocco about 8 1/2 years ago. I missed having a dog when I went to college and as soon as I moved into an apartment, I knew I wanted to get a cat to fill that void. My ex and I found a craigslist post for cute little Tabby and Siamese kittens and decided to check them out. As soon as he sat down, Callie hopped into his lap and we knew she was coming home with us. We thought she would enjoy a playmate and I wanted to pick out a kitten too so I picked up the only white one in the litter. He put his paws on my mouth and it felt like he was picking me too. Over the course of his life, touching my face with his dirty little paws was always something he would do and I felt like it was his little way of showing me a kind of affection he didn't do with everyone.

It was impossible to not love Rocco. I can't even count the number of visitors we had who didn't like cats but absolutely loved when the fat guy jumped into their laps. He was so incredibly popular. He had so many quirks that people just couldn't help but fall in love with him whether it was the way he licked his paws when you scratched his back or how he loved to roll over and show you his tummy like he was a puppy. It speaks volumes that most of my pictures of him have him on my lap or in my arms.

One of many cuddle selfies we took

I always knew in the bottom of my heart that he wouldn't live long. When your cat is that overweight and no diets work, it's only a matter of time. Every time he wanted to sit on my lap and I didn't want him to, I would remember that maybe someday I wouldn't have him anymore and how much I would miss those lap sits, and let him have it. I told myself he would get to 5, but 5 came and went and he didn't have any problems. It wasn't until 8 that his age really started to show, and when he got sick a few weeks ago, I feared the worst. When your fat cat stops eating, something is seriously wrong. He didn't get better after antibiotics and dropping him off by his bowl every morning did nothing to excite him about eating.

It absolutely killed me when we had to go out of town before he was better. I told my roommate how to encourage him to eat and told Callie to take care of her brother while we were gone. I was feeling so optimistic when Alex told me Rocco was eating again. Dan and I were so hopeful that maybe our special guy was finally doing better.

One sick kitty

Our trip to SoCal was pretty jam packed with an apartment search all day Saturday, volunteering to help the Disney race Sunday morning and then going to the theme park Sunday afternoon. It was supposed to be an amazing weekend but when we were leaving the Haunted Mansion and my phone rang, my heart sank. I knew this wasn't going to be a good call.


You always wonder where you want to be when you get the worst news. Obviously no place is good, but the happiest place on Earth? Definitely near the bottom. Turns out people look at you really weird when you're sobbing in line at Disneyland. Dan told me we could leave if I wanted to. The thing is though - what was better - being sad at a place designed to distract you from problems or being sad at home where it was the only thing I would think of? I decided to stay and after a couple of hours I was able to calm down and enjoy some of the rest of the day.

People have probably been wondering how I'm doing. The short answer is that it comes and goes. With everything else going on in my life, it's easy to find distractions. However, when I think about him and how much I'm going to miss him, I well up with tears. It's only been a couple of days and I know that there is still so much more of this to sink in.

Anyone who has spent time around Dan and I know that I constantly bug him about getting a puppy. Moving was going to help make that possible, but the first time it came up after Rocco passed, I turned to him and said "I don't want a puppy any more. Pets just get sick and leave you." He reminded me that it's about how much we love them while they are alive, even if it's not nearly long enough. While Rocco will never be replaced, we feel the hole he is leaving will be better filled by a dog so maybe when we are settled into our new home and our hearts don't hurt as much, we'll look into finding a dog that will love us and cuddle with us and sit on our laps even if it's much too big.

So all in all, things are really really sad right now, but we are getting through it. Callie is really trying to sit on laps and even if she doesn't really understand how to relax and just enjoy it, we appreciate the effort. Dealing with loss really isn't easy and there's just less of a desire to do much of anything. Even wine doesn't sound too appealing right now and mostly I just want to put my head against Dan's chest and cry.

If you've made it this far, you can probably guess what comes next. I'm probably going to slow down my blog posts for a couple of months. There will probably be a couple more before the end of the year but I need some time to grieve and pack. Writing is just so full of emotion and thinking and those two things are a little drained for me right now.

Last but not least, I really appreciate all the love and support we've received in the last few days. Even though it makes me tear up when I read your messages, I'm so happy that my kitty touched so many hearts in his short life.

World Eating Challenge - Filipino Food

In my experience with cooking, we all have our wins and losses. I remember when I first started cooking - almost any new things I tried would end in disaster. I had friends who made fun of me for a year in high school because I messed up Rice a Roni. As I've watched more cooking shows and gained more experience, a lot of experiments turn out really well... but my experience with the Paleo Filipino food really fell back into the fail category so this is really a big post on things not to try.

Chicken Adobo

Actually, this one turned out ok so let's start with the better of the two dishes. Chicken Adobo is not actually something I'm very familiar with. I know it's a popular Filipino dish though so it seemed like a good thing to make for this challenge. For reference, here is the recipe I used. 

The first step in chicken adobo was to sear my chicken. I made sure to season it first even though that wasn't part of the recipe. I really believe meats absorb flavor better when you season it raw and I stand b that decision.

Once the chicken thighs were brown, I added in the braising liquid. This was 1/3 soy sauce (not paleo but I used a gluten free version called Tamari. Coconut aminos are also a good alternative that are actually paleo.), 1/3 balsamic vinegar, and 1/3 apple cider vinegar along with bay leaves and black pepper. I let this all simmer on low for about 20 minutes. 

The chicken ended up turning a lovely brown and had good flavor although very acidic from all that vinegar. The recipe suggested the chicken have skin and mine didn't. I think that would have helped cut the acid a lot so I would definitely recommend trying it that way. I served it with quinoa (instead of rice), a green salad, and some lumpia. Speaking of the latter....

Paleo Lumpia

Are you ready for this disaster?

I found a lot of different recipes for the lumpia so I decided to go with the simplest. I knew what I wanted to do for the wrapper so this was mostly about getting a good filling. I used ground pork, an egg, and a variety of seasonings - salt, pepper, ginger, garlic. 

The wrappers were Paleo wraps which are coconut based. I really liked they way they worked for my spring rolls so I decided to try them again. 

In terms of wrapping them, the lumpia turned out great. It was really easy to fill and roll them up to the right size. I used some egg to keep it all together and that worked really well. 

Next, I fried them in avocado oil (my favorite!). This was where things started going south. I knew I'd have to fry then for a bit to make sure the pork was cooked. I had a lot of trouble figuring out how long that was and also making sure the outsides got crispy but not burnt. 

...clearly I failed at that. My lumpia turned out pretty pathetic. Eaten fresh, they weren't too bad. They definitely weren't crispy but the flavor was decent. I served them with the same with chili paste and honey dipping sauce that I made for the Thai cooking challenge. 

As leftovers, I tried to toast them to get that crispiness I didn't get from frying. Double fail. They just looked more burny and the moisture was completely zapped from them.

All in all, this challenge didn't go so well. I have an idea for a quick dish to try soon so look out for a new and hopefully more successful post soon. 

Gamora Costume, Monster Wreath, and More Cross Stitch - Nikki's Craft Corner

I know these posts fall out of the scope of what people expect from my blog. Some people think of this as a food and wine blog. I think of this as a Nikki's Life blog with an emphasis on Nikki's food and wine. However, the other things I do play into that no matter how you look at it. If I'm spending all my free time sewing, I'm not going to be cooking much - something my boyfriend definitely noticed. I think it's important to show what else I can make besides food and why I haven't been so good about posts... because it's a pretty good reason.

Gamora Costume 

So the last picture I posted of my costume was a far cry from anything complete. I had an intimidating amount of work ahead of me but luckily I had Dan to really push me to get it done - that and an October 20th deadline for a Disney contest we wanted to enter. 

I had to push the procrastination demons aside and get cracking. After a couple of days, I had a solid base of my top (above) and a week later, I had everything sewed into place. 

Before the great reveal though - I got to do one of the more fun parts and dye my hair! I've loved having a streak of pink in my hair all summer and adding pink tips to the mix for the costume was a super fun addition.

All in all - it turned out amazing!!! I still need a few tweaks to make it fit and look better but all the work paid off - Dan and I were accepted for the contest and we will be cheering on the runner of the RunDisney Avengers Half Marathon!!

Monster Wreath 

I am a huge Pinterest user. I love pinning crafts especially and I actually try to do them. I pinned this Monster wreath a couple of years ago and decided (as another mode of putting off my sewing) to finally make it!

I thought it would be fun to put a little twist on the project and make Sully from Monsters Inc. I got 3 20 yd rolls of light blue tulle and 1 of light purple for this. I also bought foam sheets in white and light brown (for the horns), and of course Styrofoam balls for the eyes and the wreath itself. 

I followed the instructions in terms of tying on my tulle but strayed after that. Sully has normal eyes so I nestled mine into the tulle instead of on top of the wreath. I ditched the bow and added the horns instead. I also was careful to make sure my purple areas looks like spots. 

The horns are just glue gunned on. I still need to figure out teeth for my little Sully wreath (hehe I rhymed!). My previous attempts weren't great but Halloween is coming up so I might just hang him up and add teeth for next year.

More Cross Stitch

I finished the kitty from my last post! Dan was really trying to enforce costume work time so I waited about a week before starting another and got a lot of serious sewing in.

However, after about a week, a new project arrived in the mail and I needed a sewing break so I was excited to start on a new cross stitch. It was a jumble of colors but I made my own little cardboard thread organizers to help me get started. 

It's funny, cross stitch seems so similar to sewing but it's so much easier and more relaxing for me. I guess because with sewing, I don't have a plan. I don't know if it will turn out how I'm thinking. I just know what I'm shooting for and hope I hit it. With cross stitch, I have direction and a picture to go off - it's so much more straightforward. 

I also ordered some supplies for future cross stitch projects. I have a big plan for all of these and I'm excited to get them all done so I can share what it is!! Each one is a different size and difficulty so it's nice to have a small one that I can work on while commuting and a more complex one to do at home.

Well, that's it for craft posts for a while! This one had me finishing a lot of projects and the only thing on my plate for the near future are finishing all my top secret cross stitches. I'll definitely post again when those are done then so - if you hate these posts, you have a while until another one and if you love them, sorry, it's going to be a bit until there's another one. 

Wine Wednesday - Hosting a Primal Friendly Happy Hour

I clearly love wine. There's no question about that. I also love all of the snacks that go so well with wine - cured meats, dried fruits, and cheese. I love cheese as much as I love wine and bacon. Yes, that much.

However, these are all things that are typically served on bread. As someone who strives for a primal (paleo w/ dairy)/gluten-free lifestyle, that's not really an option. Bread and flour are things that I might occasionally indulge in outside the home but I never buy products for cooking or serving at home. So how do you serve happy hour finger foods without bread or crackers?

Clearly wine glasses for your favorite team are also necessary - Go Giants!!!

The biggest thing is to have some sort of paleo alternative to use as your bread alternative. My favorite are fruits. My favorite cheese is the creamy blue Cambozola from Trader Joe's or Safeway. It's not something you can slice up and just eat in pieces but the tangy flavor of the blue is amazing on dried apricots. Sometimes I also wrap this in prosciutto and have it as a snack when I get home from work. In terms of wine - blue cheese and dried fruits go really well with Moscato and other dessert wines so this could also make for a dessert alternative.

As for the rest of the snacks, I opted for some grass fed Kerrygold Cheddar, sliced apples, plantain chips, and salsa. This mix of snacks was great for accommodating a variety of diets from paleo to vegan. It's hard to make everyone happy but it's easy to provide at least some other snacking option for your guests. I also made some paleo/vegan cookie butter later in the night which was perfect for dipping the apple slices into. 

Since this is a wine post, let's comment on that too. When you have a few people over, it's hard to accommodate every taste. I made sure to have a white and a red ready so at least in a broader sense, people can tell me what they are in the mood for. Luckily, I was hosting very close friends and I have a good feel for what they like in wine and it was easy to pick out bottles they would enjoy.

Sweet Potato Chips Recipe

Omg guys - it's been forever since I had a food or wine post. I'm the worst. I thought I'd toss a quick little food post your way. My plan is to have a Wine Wednesday post this week and another fun paleo World Eating Challenge post. I'll also update you on what I've been working on. As you might have seen, my last post was on crafting. I kind of fell down the craft projects well but I think I can pop my head out for a while. I finished my Gamora costume and a couple of other things so I'll have another craft post on all of that.

But for now, let's talk sweet potatoes!!!

Before anything - pre-heat your oven to 450. It takes a long time to get that hot so it's good to give it a head start.

I love buying sweet potatoes but I can be just awful about using them before they go bad. So what do you do when you have a bunch of skinny potatoes on the verge of going bad? Make chips!!!

If you don't have a mandolin - buy one. They are the best kitchen tool you could ask for. I had just gotten back from an awesome workout at the gym so I kept thinking of my Mandolin as my Mandalorian... not quite the same although they both come with their own risks. 

Anyways - I used the Mandolin to cut my potatoes into about 1/2 cm slices. This was thick enough to not burn but thin enough to get a little crispy. 

Once they were all sliced up, I tossed them with some olive oil and seasonings - sea salt, pepper, garlic powder, and sage (rosemary would also be amazing but I didn't have any). Try to make sure the oil and seasonings coats them evenly. 

Once they are coated, spread them out in one layer on your baking sheet. You made need to have a couple of trips in the oven. The chips above took 2 sets of trays. 

I baked mine for 20 minutes. This is a good time to shoot for but be sure to check on them as all ovens are differently. My oven even varies against itself - some were burnt and some were crispy but most were just a kind of baked but not mushy texture. They definitely weren't crispy like normal chips but I was ok with that. If you want them crispy, it might be worth trying to fry them. 

They pulled together wonderfully with a great dinner of slow cooked pork, kale & spinach, and wine (of course).

The dinner was also great fuel for the Warrior Dash we ran over the weekend. Remember - eat clean, train dirty! Like really dirty... 

Nikki's Craft Corner: Duct Tape Bust, Gamora Costume, Paint Nite, and Cross Stitch Kittens

Even though this blog is mostly about food and wine and adventures, I think the real root of my interests is that I like to create things. Food is an easy outlet for this as it's something so necessary and the time to create an awesome dish is much less than most art projects. However, this past weekend, I found myself with a lot of free time so I decided to catch up on lots of the projects I'm working on now. I thought maybe it would be fun to touch base every now and then and show my readers what I'm creating.

 Duct Tape Bust

One of my projects involves sewing a pretty intricate top. We'll get to that later but I was having trouble with my sewing - it's so custom that I was continually trying to measure and pin things on my own body. It was pretty cumbersome to say the least so when I asked Facebook for help with locating a sewing bust in my size, I was directed to a site on how to make one out of duct tape.

It didn't take long to find a friend eager to tape me up. Especially when I threw in some bacon and coffee. So I bought a ton of duct tape and we got started. We even decided to make a little hyperlapse out of it.

Basically, it turned out pretty well, but I do have some tips!

It's good to provide some nourishment for your helper. As fun as it is to duct tape your friend, it's still a lot of work. You can also help them peel and cut the tape, something I was pretty useless at.

Make sure you take plenty of bacon breaks. If you do it on the hottest day in your city like we did, you are going to be warm and have trouble breathing so it's nice to have some minor comforts.

Lastly, be sure to size your bust. With all the layers of tape, any awkward fidgeting, and some of the stuffing - my bust ended up being a good couple sizes bigger than me. I suggest measuring it before you stuff it so you can cut out a few inches from the get go. We didn't do this so we had to go in for some bust surgery. It definitely has helped but some of the incisions are literally bursting at the seems which means more duct tape... which inevitably leads to the bust getting too big again.

Mostly though - just enjoy your fun and random project!! I think I'll still end up buying a bust in the future when we have the space for it, but this was definitely a quick and relatively easy solution to a problem I had. Duct tape really does fix everything.

Gamora Costume

Hopefully, by the next post I make, this will be done. I was one of the masses who fell in love with Guardians of the Galaxy so Dan and I are working on Star Lord and Gamora costumes respectively. This costume has had a few roadblocks for me already. First, many of my base supplies took forever to come in. Then, I had a lot of my own procrastination. Finally, I realized I had to buckle up and get it done.. only to realize that this was going to be really hard without a bust to hold up the costume. Now that the bust is done, I was able to battle a little procrastination and start making progress.

So far, I am really just working on piecing together all the things going on with the top. It's pretty intricate but I found some cool things to help. The bottom layer is a mesh top that I cut to fit appropriately. That's covered with a vest that is also cut. Her top matches her pants so I bought two pairs and I'm working on getting that layer pinned on. There is still a lot of embellishment to go on here and I'm not really sure how it's all going to fit together but it's getting there. 

Paint Nite Day

I am such a tiny person next to my boyfriend

One thing Dan and I really love doing when timing works out is Paint Nite. Basically, it's a happy hour where they show you how to do a simple paining. Each time we go, we wander away from the original painting more and more. As you can tell from above, we each came out with very different paintings. Both were pretty far from the original also. 

My favorite thing about it though - the further we get from the original, the more the instructors tell us how awesome our paintings our. I once I had an art instructor who gave horrible grades to anyone who couldn't recreate a Van Gogh  and the bad memory has stuck with me. It's really refreshing that Paint Nite gives you instructions on a paining but is supportive of anyone doing their own thing too. That's what art is supposed to be about.

Cross Stitch

Cross stitch is probably the nerdiest of all my crafting hobbies. That says a lot when the items above have cosplay costumes, duct tape, and Pac Man ghosts. I just love it though. It's something I'll do for a while and then forget and come back to it later. This kitty, in fact, is one that I started a long time ago and found recently. I'm almost done with it now and I have some more ambitious cross stitch projects to get to next. 

I'll be throwing another one of these posts up soon. Hopefully by then I'll have Gamora done, I'll be on another cross stitch, and I'll have some Halloween decorations going on. Happy creating everyone!

Wine Wednesday - Livermore Wine Tasting

I have some friends who live out in Livermore and have been constantly talking up visiting the wineries out there. It's definitely something I'd been wanting to do and with my recent series of "Lesser Known Wine Countries" I figured I could visit my friends, see some new wineries, and report back on one more county where you can try some amazing wines.

Fenestra Winery

I could probably right this whole post on Fenestra Winery. If Jackie didn't take me to so many amazing wineries, I probably would write this whole post on Fenestra. I might have to come back just to write a whole post on Fenestra. The fact of the matter is - they have amazing wines and a lot to choose from. I really love exploring wines that are unique varietals and made well. Fenestra excels on both fronts, offering a lot of Spanish and Portuguese grapes as well as a few Rhone varietals. There are few things I didn't like in their vast portfolio so I'm just going to mention a few of my favorites.

The 2010 Infared is the Fenestra GSM (43% Grenache, 39% Syrah, 18% Mourvedere). It was extremely well balanced and fruit forward. The wine also comes in a magnum size and they let you taste both. The magnum will develop slower and you can taste some more of the robust flavor since it hasn't settled as quickly. The magnum would definitely be what you would want to purchase if you are planning on aging the wine for a long time. 

The Dolce Francesca was another really interesting wine. This was a dessert wine but wasn't as syrupy as many I've seen. Instead the flavor was light and peachy with a hint of honey. 

And if you don't believe me in regards to Fenestra... they won an award or two!

Tenuta Vineyards

Well, it just wouldn't be a fun post without a gif. I really do love when Dan takes a bunch of pictures and Google gifs them for me because if a picture is worth a thousand words, a gif is worth a million. I'm sure there's some science behind that... yea... science!!!

Now that we're all happy about gifs, let's talk about wine! Tenuta has a wide portfolio of wines but they really excel in their blends. I always think blends are where wine makers have a chance to shine. Since you never know exactly how the grapes will turn out, a blend is a great way to bring together different varietals and a good wine maker will make the whole better than the sum of its parts. This was definitely the case at Tenuta and I suggest tasting straight to the blends if you visit. 

Tenuta was also the only winery that had a TV and sports playing in the background. This made the boys very happy. The owner's boyfriend even showed them to a room with a projector TV and beer tasting. It was definitely a great way for everyone to be happy!

Eight Bridges Brewery

I don't drink beer very often anymore. I used to go to beer tastings a ton but I noticed that it never sat well with me so I basically cut it out. However, Jackie planned a fun trip to a brewery so I thought I'd have a tasting as well. I loved the Twisted Red and the O’Beardsley’s Stout. The Stout especially had a wonderful chocolate and coffee flavor that was amazing.

We had a great trip to Livermore and I'd love to go back and check out even more of the great wineries out there.

Paleo Thai Food - World Eating Challenge

 Here comes... another World Eating Challenge post!!! One of the non- World Cup countries I really wanted to try to make food for was Thai food. I love Thai food and for the most part, the things I like are pretty Paleo with a little adjustment. However, it's still hard to know exactly what you're getting in restaurants. Another thing I like about Thai food is there are base flavors with a wide variety of ingredients. I picked two Thai dishes that really show this variety - red curry and spring rolls. Red curry is just so delicious with so much flavor but I've seen such a wide variety of veggies in it, making it really customizable. For spring rolls - you can choose from many fillings but they always seem to skimp on the protein and stuff them with lettuce. I also wanted to try to do it with out the one non-paleo ingredient - the rice wrapper. So let's see how I did it!

Shrimp and Duck Spring Rolls

Let's start with the spring rolls. I wanted mine to be shrimp and duck. I felt it would be easier to work with frozen cooked shrimp. Since spring rolls are cold, it saves the step of cooking and then cooling the shrimp.

All you have to do is toss them in some water and let them thaw out.

For the wrap, I used these Paleo Wraps. I'd been hesitant to try them because I wasn't sure how the wrapper would taste or what the texture would be. They ended up being really pliable and there wasn't a strong flavor. I would compare them a lot to a crepe. 

Since spring rolls are a lot of lettuce, I wanted fresh, high quality stuff. I used these cute little gems from my CSA. It also meant a little less cutting since the leaves were the size of my rolls. 

I took a Paleo Wrap and cut it in half. I laid them out and piled on way more filling than what you get from a store or restaurant. Honestly, it was probably a little too much because they were tough to wrap...

The best part of spring rolls is the spicy sweet dipping sauce. I figured that sauce is mostly sugar and a check of a grocery label confirmed that. I decided to make my own with chili paste and honey. Let me just say.... chili paste is really hot. I was going to do a 1:1 ratio but I had to double on the honey and then add a little avocado oil to make it bearable. 

I really loved how these turned out. Since there was no cooking, these were really quick and easy. I think this might be my go to snack from now on! I definitely want to work on perfecting the dipping sauce too. I also might just put some on the inside of the wrap. Because I stuffed them so much they were tough to dip and having an even flavor through out would be nice.

Chicken & Shrimp Red Curry

Next it was curry time! I used this recipe as a basis but did some customizing. I wanted to do a mix of chicken and shrimp because, frankly, I wasn't bound by what I was capable of ordering at a restaurant. This time I used raw frozen shrimp with the plan to let them cook in the curry. I also used organic chicken thighs.

A note on chicken - the one thing I find hardest about being strict paleo is the whole organic/ grass fed thing. I know it's much healthier but it's definitely a financial burden. However, with all of the news about Foster Farms and other low quality chicken, I've really been making a stretch for higher quality meats. 

The first step was to cook the chicken. I normally pan cook chicken for the most flavor but I knew I was going to be preoccupied with the rest of the cooking so I just tossed them in the oven at 375 for 30 min (20 min of baking and then 5 min each side on the broiler for some browning).

Next up was veggies! The recipe had red bell peppers and mushrooms. I decided to also get some mung bean sprouts. Really there is so much flexibility. I've seen red curries with bamboo shoots, pineapple, tomatoes, squash, and everything in between. Put in whatever you like!!

These I just cut up and sauteed.

Next was the curry! Luckily, just about everything in curry (coconut milk, red curry paste, fish sauce) is Paleo already! The only exception was the brown sugar so I just left this out. The fish sauce and curry paste I used were also gluten free - I linked above to brands that are gluten free. It's definitely something worth checking because they're not always. 

The coconut milk, fish sauce, curry paste and lemongrass were all mixed together and brought to a simmer. After that, you can just take out the lemongrass.

Once the curry was ready, I mixed in the veggies, shrimp, and chicken. I let it simmer a little bit more (while I was finishing the spring rolls) which let the flavor permeate all the ingredients. 

Altogether it was an amazing dinner! It seems like I did a lot but really this was all super simple. I paired it with a Chardonnay from Krutz Family Cellars which was a nice balance to the spiciness and just the generally summer heat in our apartment. 

This really turned out great! The changes I would make - I forgot the basil. It said it was a garnish but I think simmering a bunch of it and removing it with the lemongrass would have helped the flavor a lot. I also think it did need some sweetness. I still wouldn't add sugar but some pineapple chunks and cherry tomatoes would have done a lot to help.