About Paleo Challenges...

It is the time of year for resolutions.  Primal and paleo challenges abound on the internet.  Facebook paleo groups are resounding with "I'm in!" only to be followed a couple of weeks later with "I can't do this. I'm quitting.  I've failed. What am I doing wrong?"  We've all been there.  I even have a few attempts on my blog at starting some 30-day challenges only to get tired of updating my blog each day and facing the fact that I wasn't strict paleo once again.


I don't think there is anything inherently wrong with a paleo challenge.  Maybe it is the impetus someone needs to clean out the pantry of non-paleo temptations. Maybe it will spark someone to at least try the paleo lifestyle for the first time.  My problem is with the all-or-nothing attitude of some proponents of these challenges.  I think this becomes a setup for failure.  Way too many of us who have dieted in the past know the thoughts that begin in your head as soon as you slip off the proverbial bandwagon.  "I blew today so I might as well start over tomorrow."  The same thing happens tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow and eventually you find yourself posting that you are quitting the challenge on Facebook and you feel like the ultimate failure.  I've seen numerous posts like this already and it saddens me.


How about a different kind of challenge?  What if you try to eat as paleo as possible while living in the real world of work and family where you don't have hours to prepare paleo meals? As a teacher, I get 22 minutes to eat lunch and I share a microwave with 12 co-workers in my department.  I am not at home running my paleo consulting business where I can shut off my computer for an hour or take a break from exercising while I prepare a hot lunch.  What if you try to make each day just a little more paleo?  What if you forgive yourself for eating a pat of butter from grassfed cows or having a damn potato or a piece of cheese once in a while? What if you experiment a bit and find out what works best for you instead of listening to someone you've never met tell you what worked for them?  What if you devise a paleo lifestyle that works for you and your life and makes YOU feel and perform better?


I might get some flack for this. But in the last few years, I have found a place in paleo that makes me feel good and yet allows me to live a non-spartan lifestyle.  I could go the strict paleo route and never eat dairy, potatoes, sugar, coffee, or non-pastured meats again and maybe that will get me an extra year or so added to my life.  But I think I have attained a fairly happy medium where I eat paleo a good bit of the time but I still have room in my life for the occasional french fry, gluten-free baked good, tortilla chip, or piece of chocolate. I'm not willing to trade that for the tiny little bit of improvement I might get from being strict paleo.  


What I do know is this:  Nearly all of the improvements in my health can be attributed to two things.  First, gluten has no place in my life.  I would guess that 90% of my health improvements came from eliminating that little monster from my diet.  That is my area of strictness - no gluten, ever.  The second major contributor to improved health comes from strength training.  For a minimal investment of 2-3 hours per week of weightlifting (the olympic kind), other strength and conditioning work (Tabata drills, kettle bell, ropes, etc), and just general activity, I am fitter now than I have been since my late teens.  


In addition to those two things, I don't use a lot of dairy products, but I do have cheese (the real kind) and I add milk or cream to my coffee.  I limit coffee to one cup per day because it makes me jittery.  I buy pastured meat (beef, pork, chicken, lamb) from local farmers or US Wellness Meats.  I raise my own chickens for a supply of eggs (or buy local pastured eggs when my hens decide not to lay).  If I buy cheese, it is the good stuff, preferably from raw milk and I usually purchase raw milk/cream for coffee and cooking.  I EAT BACON - it is from the pastured pork and is probably full of nitrites but I can't foresee a life without bacon.  I raise many of my own vegetables during the summer and I buy as good a quality as I can during the winter and try to buy in-season and local as much as possible.  For my sanity, I have a supply of dark chocolate on hand and I make the occasional gluten-free dessert, like cupcakes for my birthday.  I don't want to eat a paleoized version of these, most of which taste like crap.  I do not intentionally eat vegetable oils, except when I eat at a restaurant that uses them. I feel like my body can handle that abomination for the infrequent times I eat out.  A lifetime without potatoes?  Can't do it - again I feel like my body can handle the occasional potato assault without too much damage.


If you've followed me this far, then some of you are tsk-tsking away at me and saying I am not eating paleo at all.  Whatever.  The point is I eat better than probably 99% of the people on the planet, I am getting good results from eating this way, and I am keeping my sanity while doing it. My lab tests (for what they're worth) show constant improvement.  When it stops working for me, I'll have to look at getting stricter, but for now I am a happy paleo camper.   For me, eliminating gluten-free grains (and most grains for that matter) and almost all processed foods have made the biggest improvement.  For others, it might be eliminating vegetable oils, or sugar, or nightshades, or coffee.  Find out what gives you the biggest bang for your paleo buck and work on that item first.  The rest is just gravy (albeit gluten-free).

Bacon and Brussel Sprout Bake

Honestly, you could put bacon on yesterday's newspaper and it would taste good.  Some people don't like brussel sprouts (I don't understand) but I bet most people would like them fixed this way. You'll need:

1 quart fresh brussel sprouts

coconut oil, lard, or tallow

fresh spinach

cooked, pulled chicken

1/2 pound bacon, preferably pasture-raised

seasoning

Clean and quarter the brussel sprouts.  Brush a shallow baking or sheet pan with a light layer of coconut oil, lard, or tallow.  Layer the sprouts on top.  Cover with a layer of fresh spinach leaves.  For the third layer, add the cooked chicken.  Top with chopped bacon.  Sprinkle the top with whatever seasoning you like.  I used a blend of paprika, a bit of chili powder, pepper, and some other spices.  Bake at 375 until bacon on top is crispy. Oh my, the bacon drips down to the sprouts and they get crispy leaves on the bottom but are just soft on the inside, the chicken becomes infused with smoky bacon taste, the spinach leaves wilt just so slightly.  Ah.

Frizzled Spicy Beef and Tostones (Fried Plantains)

I had leftover very tender pot roast in the refrigerator and two plantains that I picked up on a whim at the grocery store the other day.  And I have two gallons of lard from the happy pastured pork we bought this fall. All of this made for a quick after gym meal.  


Plantains:  Melt some lard in a deep pan (about 3/4 inch should do it).  Peel, then slice the plantains about 1/4 inch thick on the diagonal.  Drop in the hot lard.  Fry gently until golden, remove, cool slightly, and then smash with a flat-bottomed object (I used a mortar).  Re-fry until a slightly darker golden and remove.  Surprisingly, these pick up very little oil. I sprinkled them with salt after the second frying.


Frizzled Beef:  I made up the word "frizzled" to describe a shredded meat fried until there are some crispy bits along with tender meat.  It almost has a hash-like consistency.  I shredded the remains of the pot roast and spread it thinly in a frying pan.  There was enough fat in the roast to frizzle the beef.  I sprinkled the beef with a chili powder mix as it was frying. A little sour cream on the side is nice for dipping but you can easily leave it out if you don't do dairy.


Result:

Thanks to Caroline and Alex for help with the plantains!

Primal Fish Stew

Turkey, ham, turkey, ham.  The holidays are full of these two staples and it's nice to break away from the trend and go with a different flavor in the week following. Yesterday was quite cold and windy.  This Primal Fish Stew took about 20 minutes to prep and cook and was just the right dish to stave off the chill and avoid the holiday leftovers.  My version had some leftover string beans and a little frozen succotash, but you can sub any more primal vegetable you like.  Sorry for the small amount in the bowl.  It was almost gone by the time I got a picture!


Primal Fish Stew

5 Tbsp olive oil or coconut oil or lard (I used about 1/2 lard, 1/2 olive oil)
1 cup of chopped onions
2 large garlic cloves, chopped
2/3 cup fresh parsley, chopped
2 cups salsa, mild or hot, your choice
2 tbsp of tomato paste
A few drops of fish sauce or 8 oz clam juice (if you don't have either, just leave it out)
1 - 2 cups water (you can add more if you like a thinner soup-like consistency)
Vegetables - any cut up fresh or frozen vegetables you like
1  lb fish fillets (use halibut, cod, any other white fish), cut into 1 1/2 -inch pieces
Touch of dry oregano, hot sauce, thyme, pepper
Salt to taste

- Heat olive oil in heavy large pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add chopped onion and garlic and sauté until softened but not brown. Add parsley and stir in. Add salsa and tomato paste and cook a few minutes longer.

- Add fish sauce, water, vegetables, and simmer until vegetables are almost done.  Add fish and simmer until fish is cooked through, less than 10 minutes. Add seasoning. Salt to taste. Ladle into bowls and serve.

Serves 3-4.  About 2 bowls each.

Sausage and Peppers

I'm going to make this quick.  Why are the weeks before Christmas break at school and at home so hectic?  Here's a quick supper to make after the gym or a long day at school. Serve it on a paper plate for easy cleanup. :P

Fry up some peppers, onions, and sliced sausage in happy pig lard.  Serve on lettuce leaves to wrap up the goodness and transport it to your mouth.  I can't tell you how good this is after a long day.  

Winter Frittata

I could probably live on eggs.  They are the perfect food for quick meals.  As usual, I looked around the fridge for what was available for a quick meal after a strength training session.  


Bacon - pop in the oven so I don't have to mess with it while fixing other food:

Onions, sweet potatoes, jalapenos, and lard - why not?  These are the whitish sweet potatoes so they are not sickly sweet like the orange ones.  Frizzle until slightly softened.

Pastured eggs and raw goat milk:

Check the bacon - looking good:

Add some chopped frisee lettuce, raw feta, and raw cheddar:

Cover with a lid to cook the top:

Take the bacon out the oven, slice some frittata and enjoy!  I think this turned out to be one of the best frittatas I have made.  Or I was just hungry after gym.

Beauty and the Beast

Two primal pastured pork dishes:  one beautiful in its bacon wrapping and the other just plain fugly.  One took a day to marinate in a dry rub of spices and the other was hastily thrown together in 15 minutes.  Both delicious.  


Beauty:
Take one pork shoulder roast, rub it well with any dry rub you like, wrap it and let it sit in the refrigerator overnight.  Place it in a roasting pan, drape it with bacon from same pastured pig, and roast at around 325 for 20 minutes or so per lb.  (I like my pork done, but some like it pink - do what you like).  Result:

Beast:
Take five frozen porkchops from same pastured pig and put in a dutch oven or similar pan.  Add chopped carrots, onions, and turnips.  Add about 1 1/2 cups tomato sauce, 1 cup chicken broth, and about 1 cup water.  Cover with heavy lid and cook on low heat for 2 hours.  The meat will literally fall off the bone and be incredibly tender. Result: