restaurants

happy belated halloween!

/ peacel0vepale0 / Leave a comment

photo 1 (home decorations, credit to my mom – you’re hired for the christmas prep!)

I’ll open with taking a moment to note that I didn’t eat any halloween candy!! I honestly looked at it a few times and thought about how nice it would be to eat a piece; however, there really wasn’t a “craving” for a piece of chocolate, so I just admired the wrapper.  Even days after the candy lingers in the house, I walk past it and try not to even notice it is sitting next to the door.  Honestly, after being pregnant I’m surprised at how I have my willpower back to not eat some of that sugar!  Instead I’m enjoying eating natural sugars.

Now I’ll skip to the food, we went to Xuan Saigon Vietnamese Restaurant in Leesburg the day after halloween.  I had a hard time reviewing the menu with diet restrictions.  I was hoping for the curry, but unfortunately coconut milk wasn’t the sole cream.  I ordered the lotus root salad with shrimp & pork and crushed peanuts (skipped the crispy onions), topped off with fish sauce.  The flavor definitely resembled a vermicelli bowl (considering that I dump fish sauce all over this dish) without the rice noodles — keeping it paleo friendly folks!  I had never enjoyed lotus root before, the texture smooth and is crisp/ crunchy – the vegetable did not disappoint!

photo 2

Read tomorrow for more weekend updates!  This week I will stay current with posts, no back tracking!!

peace. love. paleo.

one of those grateful nights.

/ peacel0vepale0 / 1 Comment

This evening my husband and I had the pleasure of dining with Patowmack Farm in Lovettsville.  This dining experience was quite unique and to our liking.  🙂

We both enjoyed these snacks & appetizer…

photo 3

Featured: dehydrated kale with yeast; sliced turnips with dipping seasoning; and root vegetable soup.

The yeast on the kale was absolutely amazing flavor – salty, but divine.  We are going to attempt making kale with the dehydrator; we are always looking for new things to dry!  The turnips were so crisp, they were honestly not what I was expecting at all.  The flavor was so subtle it was refreshing.  And, finally, the soup OH MY GOSH!!! This dish was absolutely divine, there were sunflower seeds and bacon vinegar at the bottom – an absolutely wonderful combo, making the flavor so rich.

I enjoyed this entree:

photo 1

Pictured: pork loin with roasted pumpkin, sweet potato chips, arugula and curried peanuts.  Filling, yet, not something that will drag you down and put you into a food coma.  Great earthy flavor!

My husband enjoyed this entree:

photo 4

Photographed: rockfish with grits, greens, fried fish skin – not sure of all the components, but those are the basics I believe.

We both got to enjoy this:

photo 2

What a great atmosphere.  The restaurant is located in a greenhouse that is decorated with lights and other fabulous items.  When you walk into the dining area it is an extremely unique and elegant experience.  The dining room is very quiet and relaxing; we highly recommend making a reservation!  P.S. – You can even keep paleo on your mind while you dine with them!

sleep well everyone:

peace. love. paleo.

Triple Stacked

/ peacel0vepale0 / Leave a comment

After a sleepless night, literally, I asked my husband to pick me up BurgerFi on his way home from work.  Today consisted of an unintentional day of fasting, and rolling around in bed attempting to nap with the little one; I decided I deserved a glutenous meal.  My order was almost artery clogging, however, I left out the fried egg and I exercised (made it to the 6 week postpartum mark!).

image copy 2don’t forget image copyfollowed by image

That’s stacked three high with natural burgers, plus bacon, tomato and pickle.  I always opt for lettuce wrapped.  Unfortunately, they don’t have sweet potato fries so I settled for salted fries.  I devoured this meal, quite an attractive sight!  I am sad to report that the coconut slush is gone; it’s time for the next dessert!  This round I added the macadamia nut butter and drizzled on some left over raspberry sauce my husband used in his latest batch of macarons (recipe to follow).

Home-made Raspberry Sauce: (modified Laduree’s raspberry macaron filling recipe for paleo-friendly eaters)

1/2 cup coconut sugar

1.5 cup fresh raspberries

juice of 1/4 lemon

few tbsp coconut milk

*In a food processor gently blend raspberries, warm them in a pan, add the other ingredients and bring mixture to a boil for two minutes.

The work-out I chose today was one I have done in the past – 

I highly recommend this channel, they have a wide variety of different routines of all different fitness levels and durations.

As I pray for a restful night, I remind myself:

peace. love. paleo.