I swear this is going to be the last of the sweets. (At least in the foreseeable future, which means it’s probably not the end).

Christmas Noms! (Not all made by me, thankfully)

Dangerous.

For some reason these are better than any chocolate chip cookie I’ve ever had.

Throwback!

Greek classic. Basically a Mediterranean spin on a Mexican Wedding Cookie.

Now made with extra crack.

Or “Hate Bars” if you’re my mother, because, “you hate yourself after eating them!”

Dipped in chocolate and white non-pareils

Dipped in white chocolate and toffee

We’re Polish and not afraid to show it.

Coffee and custard made this gorgeous baby. And then I ate it.

The cake on the outside is actually a cookie…that I destroyed with ill-matching food coloring. I swear it’s tasty though.

With Raspberry-Chiffon Jelly roll sides and an Apricot glazed top.

AKA fun with piping bags and cookie cutters.

Also laced with crack. And more seriously, bourbon.

I can’t tell you the last time I had lettuce. Some part of me is okay with that.

I hope you all had a fantastic holiday and are ready for 2013! Seems like we all made it past the apocalypse…all of us except the revered Twinkie. RIP, old friend.

Culinary School is not the place for a lifestyle adjustment. Or a diet. Or anything that doesn’t contain butter. Let’s just talk about how Fail-eo I’ve been for the past month. Paleo/Slow-Carb/Primal are all essentially about avoiding gluten at all costs and focusing on food quality. Hah.  I spent a week learning how to develop gluten. (See: bread practical below)

Those diets are all about limiting sugar intake as much as possible because of insulimic effects that are negative on your body. Hah. Whip sugar in butter? Okay! Whip sugar in heavy cream? Okay!! Bring it home and eat it for a week? OKAY!!! (See: Gateau St. Honore and Pear Almond Tart below)

More After the Jump!! >>

Sorry I’ve been absent for so long folks! There’s a lot to cover now that I’m back.  From Breakfast class (it’s a 4AM adventure), to finals, to a 6 day family trip to Disney World (!) to buying a new camera (!!!) – I HAVE NEWS.

So when I get a sec, you’ll get to hear all about it!

So let’s start figuring out what I eat, shall we? It’s really not as mysterious as you’d think.

Normally I have about 5 minutes for breakfast, so the first part of this will showcase fast eats for fast-paced mornings. However, since today is Labor day, and it’s all about taking things sloooooooow, the latter part is a breakfast plan for you that’s Paleo friendly, worth taking the 15-20 minutes to create and totally delicious. Usually breakfasts for me are egg-centric. This does get boring after awhile, but with all of the varieties and options with eggs, I feel it’ll take a bit before I get tired of them.

Oh, and you health nuts out there who are worrying about cholesterol and, “eating eggs daily is bad for you” blah blah…slow down, and just read. When I get to the science-y post about Paleo it’ll all make sense – just hold onto your seats for this one.

Usually I make myself a three egg scramble, with some kind of chopped vegetable and meat inside of it. Everything, and I mean everything, I cook these days is done in 100% coconut oil. I get mine from Trader Joe’s, but Tropicaltraditions.com has some pretty awesome coconut oil for sale, and as far as oils go, it’s pretty cheap.

More after the Jump!! >>

So lately I’ve been getting a lot of comments from people I haven’t seen in a few months about how much weight I’ve lost. The crazy part about all of this is that I feel like I haven’t even been trying.  Let’s recap the past few months.

January – Moved back home from downstate. Dealt with the reintroduction to the parents. It was uphill to say the least.

February – Figuring out my life, applying to culinary school, basic breathing and sleeping.

March – Accepted into culinary school, took bartending classes that so far have gone nowhere, and St. Patrick’s Day (ß deserves noting)

April – Started culinary school and realized what a time commitment this was. Commuting and school 24/7.

May – Ditto of April with a smattering of visits downstate. Discovered Paleo.

June – 23^rd (I’m a Blink-182 song?) birthday(!).  Finished my first quarter of school. Visited old roommate in San Fran. (P.S. Marc, please move home. Kthx.)

July – Started second quarter of school. Birthdays and babysitting galore.

And here we are.  I realize this is reductionism at its finest, but honestly I can’t pinpoint a time when I said, “I’m going on a diet”. It just kinda…happened.

I’ve always been wary of dairy because I’m lactose intolerant, but I started watching my gluten intake too, and noticed how much better I felt without it. So I ran with it (as much as I could). Now I’m not going to sit here and tell you I have the best willpower in the world, because that would just be a lie. When I crave Taco Bell (which is far too often) I go and get Taco Bell…we’re all works in progress.  However, I try to stick to avoiding dairy and gluten as much as possible when eating.  It’s more of a conscious decision not to do it, than an unconscious decision to eat those foods…if that makes any sense.

More after the Jump! >>

I’ve given it a lot of thought over the past couple of months as to whether or not I wanted to keep this blog.  I haven’t been posting on it (obviously) and it’s been kinda staring me in the face like a “remember this project you started and never finished? Wanna add it to the pile of the rest?”  One of those.

So instead of destroying it entirely, I made it better.  I’m still tweaking things, but making the overall theme and impression of the blog more appealing is definitely a plus.  There’s also a revamp in content.  Brace yourselves – it won’t be recipes everyday (Earth shattering, I know).  There are a few reasons for this, but the most of which is, I don’t think I need to make new/exciting/different/recipe worthy food everyday. Not only that, but being camera-less is like trying to do this with a hand tied behind my back.  Don’t get me wrong Apple, your phone has a great camera on it…but not for this.  So expect mostly stories, tips and tricks, and recipes sprinkled about here and there.

If you’re still around, then welcome back! And if you’re new, then please stick around!