Food for Primal Thought

First Amendment Rights - There is No Money in Getting People Well

2012-02-04T10:30:00.002-05:00

and this: Free the Animal - Who's the Worstest?

and this: Free the Animal - Clear Thinking...

and this: diabetes-warriors-steve-cooksey-and-the-future-of-low-carb-diets

These bloggers and more have written about the North Carolina's Board of Dieticians' "review" of Steve Cooksey's blog and what the NCBD perceives as his giving advice and counseling about diabetes contrary to the crap advice they give their clients. They are threatening to take action against him if he continues to blog about his experience of controlling diabetes with diet. Steve has found a way to use a paleo lifestyle to virtually cure his diabetes. This upsets the NCBD since they prescribe the usual American Diabetes Association advice that keeps people sick with insulin, drugs, and a diet plan that makes even healthy people sick. Several states have pending legislation that would block anyone who is not a licensed dietician or physician from giving health advice. Seems like someone is feeling threatened. First amendment rights anyone? There is no money in getting people well.

Here is Steve's blog: http://www.diabetes-warrior.net/

If I ever develop diabetes, I know who I will go to for advice.

About Paleo Challenges...

2012-01-16T14:36:00.000-05:00

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

2012-01-13T18:41:00.000-05:00

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)

2012-01-03T19:46:00.000-05:00

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

2011-12-27T13:44:00.001-05:00

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

2011-12-15T20:15:00.000-05:00

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

2011-12-06T19:51:00.000-05:00

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

2011-11-30T18:24:00.000-05:00

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:

Sausage and Sauce

2011-11-16T20:44:00.000-05:00

I'm keeping this simple. Take some sausage (I used US Wellness Meats Chicken, Spinach, and Feta), brown in lard from the recently purchased pastured pork now in my freezer . Add tomato sauce made by Everyday Local in Lancaster, PA. Ingredients: organic tomatoes, basil, salt. Simmer. Top with provolone. That is all. That is enough.

Inspiration Stir Fry...

2011-11-10T19:40:00.000-05:00

...So-called because this was totally inspired by the smell of Chinese food wafting through the gym tonight as Sally stopped in to say hello to the strength training class and her coach husband, Mike, at McKenna's Gym with a couple of bags of takeout. My internal clock has not totally aligned with the changing clock time this week and a 5:15 gym time still seems like 6:15 dinner time to my stomach. When I get home from a class that includes multiple sets of presses, rows, box jumps, single leg squats with a kettlebell, and rope waves (or whatever you want to call sessions of whacking two 20 foot ropes on the floor), I am hungry. And I want something quick.
A quick perusal of the refrigerator yielded a half-eaten chicken carcass from last night's dinner, a bag of snap peas, sliced almonds, garlic, and some leftover mache salad. I melted some coconut oil in a large pan, added minced garlic, and added the snow peas. I removed the remaining meat from the chicken, pretty savagely I might add, and put that in the pan. Next, I added the mache, some fish sauce, salt, a little teriyaki (gluten-free) sauce, and ginger. Voila, chicken snow pea stir fry!

The fridge also yielded a little bit of leftover rice from a previous dinner. Yup, I added a little white rice to fill out the meal. Hit the spot but you can certainly leave out the rice.

Lamb Osso Bucco and Delicata Squash

2011-11-02T19:08:00.000-04:00

Several weeks ago, I bought two lamb osso bucco pieces and two lamb steaks from US Wellness Meats. Since Mother Nature decided to grace us with 5 inches of snow on Saturday, I decided a nice slow-cooked meat meal would be great. Julie and Charles Mayfield have written a new cookbook called Paleo Comfort Foods. Buy it: Paleo Comfort Foods. It will be some of the best money you'll spend. While you're at it buy Make It Paleo by Bill Staley and Hayley Mason. More money well spent. In Paleo Comfort Foods, you will find a recipe for Osso Bucco (p. 298). Follow it and you will be richly rewarded. I used one lamb osso bucco (tailbone with meat) and one lamb steak to add some more meat. After a couple of hours in the oven, the meat will literally fall off the bone, the marrow will meld into the sauce, and the vegetables will make an almost creamy sauce. Heaven.

To go with it, I took two delicata squash, cut them in half lengthwise, and removed the seeds. I then sliced the halves into 1/2 inch slices. Scatter them on a baking sheet. Slice a medium onion into similar slices and sprinkle on the squash. Add about 2 tablespoons of olive oil or coconut oil, salt and pepper, and 2 tablespoons of good balsamic vinegar. Mix well with your hands, spread evenly, and bake about 20 minutes at 350 or until the squash is tender. The onions will crisp and sweeten and the squash will soak in the balsamic. This dish made the perfect companion to the osso bucco. Mmmm.

List of Gluten-Free Foods

2011-10-27T20:31:00.000-04:00

Warning: non-paleo content contained in this post! When discussing my "diet" with friends and acquaintances, I realize that cold-turkey paleo is a tough idea to swallow for most people. To me, the worst offender of toxic Standard American Diet foods is any food containing gluten. Gluten is linked to so many disorders that it is hard to list them all. The list includes celiac disease, non-celiac gluten sensitivity, multiple sclerosis, arthritis, migraines, neuropathy, joint pain, IBS, fibromyalgia, restless legs, anxiety, schizophrenia and just about any other inflammatory or autoimmune disorder.
When people complain about various aches and pains, instead of recommending full-blown paleo, I often suggest they start by removing gluten-containing foods from their diets. That often sparks the next phase of the conversation. "But what do you eat? What about bread? I like pasta too much. Gluten-free foods are too expensive. But gluten is in everything!" Right - it is in just about everything and potential contamination lurks in every package. Eventually, down the line, they come to realize that a paleo diet where you EAT REAL FOOD is the easiest and (surprise!) the best for you, but a good start in the right direction eliminates gluten. REAL FOOD usually does not come in packages.
It's hard to think of a life without pasta, sandwiches, bagels, donuts, and beer at first. That's because gluten is very similar in action to an opioid - it is addicting. Withdrawal is real. Yes, you can go cold turkey paleo. If I had known about paleo four years ago, that might be what I would have done. I was gluten-free for three years before primal eating and I think that made primal easier for me. I probably tried every GF food product out there. Most are crap, pure and simple. But a very few are decent. This post is for the folks who want to dip their toes in the gluten-free water rather than take the paleo plunge. These are the very few products I have found that are decent substitutes for gluten foods. All of these are carb-heavy but good.

Bread: Udi's brand - they have white sandwich and raisin breads. Look in the freezer section. If you are local to me, Saubel's in Shrewsbury, Giant, and Wegman's carry it. It's carb heavy but good.
Rolls, pizza crust, french bread: Against the Grain brand - same stores carry it. This is made from a tapioca and cheese base similar to brazilian cheese bread. Also, Chebe makes a nice brazilian bread mix and a pizza crust mix that are very good.
Pasta: Tinkyada brand - I like this pasta better than wheat-based pasta. It is rice-based and surprisingly filling, so you really don't want that much of it. When you go paleo, you'll sub spaghetti squash or zucchini noodles (my favorite) or eschew the noodles altogether for meatballs and sauce.
Cereal: There are quite a few options out there. Chex cereals, Bakery on Main, several others are gluten-free. Check the label and only buy it if it is marked gluten-free. Many cereals like Rice Krispies contain barley malt which contains gluten. I don't like cereal any more. Once the gluten cravings stopped, my desire for subs like these just stopped.
Crackers and pretzels: I like Glutino brand. There are lots of other options, but I find those have the closest taste to regular crackers.
Baking Mixes: Surprisingly, there are several of these. Pamela's and King Arthur's gluten-free flours are good. I like almond flour better however.

Pitfalls: Many products (notice I didn't say food) have hidden gluten. Manufacturers are required to declare wheat, but they are not required to declare barley, spelt, or rye which are all gluten grains. Many ingredients have gluten components as well, so be wary of anything that has barley, malt, natural flavorings, or artificial flavorings. The most common non-obvious contamination sources are things like soy sauce, soups, spaghetti sauces, and many candies. Restaurants are nearly impossible unless they specialize in GF foods. PF Changs, Outback, John J. Jeffries in Lancaster, Five Guys (ask for no bun and tell them you have an allergy) are pretty safe choices. Chipotle has a few items that are GF but they are going to kill you with their use of soybean and other oils anyway. Check out gluten-free forums and sites for lists of safe foods.
Better yet, eat paleo (see my sidebar for many great paleo sites, but I like MarksDailyApple and Robb Wolf's sites the best). Paleo eliminates several other toxic foods as well (lectins, phytates, omega-6 oils, etc.) and you'll be eating the way 2 million years of evolution designed you to eat. And you will never feel better!

Chickens are not vegetarians...

2011-10-19T19:16:00.000-04:00

This is what pastured, free-range, non-vegetarian-eating chicken eggs look like:

My little flock of five buff orpingtons and one half-banty hen laid these. These ladies and their two rooster fellows roam the property, eating any hapless bug, seed, fruit fall, compost veggie, and occasional grain-free cat food in their path. Look at that lovely orange color. The taste is so much better than vapid store-bought eggs and sometimes I have to hit them on the counter twice to crack them - the shells are strong. Some egg purveyors call their chickens "pasture-raised" or "free-range" but then raise them in small barren pens on factory-packaged grain products. The telltale signs are a pale yellow yolk and a thin shell. Don't be fooled.

A New Cookbook, a Salmon Recipe, and a Mini-Rant

2011-10-12T19:35:00.000-04:00

There has been a lot of paleo buzz about a new cookbook, Paleo Comfort Foods, by Julie and Charles Mayfield. I got my copy a couple of weeks ago, but hadn't had a chance to crack it open yet until tonight. I had a huge piece of wild-caught salmon in the freezer and several locally grown sweet potatoes so I checked the book for a recipe and decided to try the Sweet Potato Fries with Chipotle Sauce and to simply bake the piece of salmon.
I hardly ever follow a recipe to the letter. I usually have to alter the ingredients a bit to fit what I have in my kitchen and tonight was no exception, but I think I captured the essence of the recipes. I cut the sweet potatoes (I prefer the less sweet white varieties) into triangular spears, sprinkled and coated them with olive oil, cumin, salt and pepper (according to the recipe) and popped them in the oven. I added the salmon, sliced into portions, alongside (a bit later in the cooking process) and seasoned with salt and pepper. Then I made the chipotle sauce from the book, changing it up a bit. I used a close-to-paleo mayo I have found in the store (yes, in the local natural foods store!). Here's the link: http://www.selinanaturally.com/Organic-Mayonnaise-Organic-Mayo-with-Coconut-Oil-P2201.aspx It's good stuff (and not as expensive in my local store as it is on the website). Anyway, I used that as the paleo mayo base because I was too lazy to make mayo from scratch. I added in some olive oil, chipotle peppers, cilantro, and garlic. This made an awesome sauce in which to dip the fries and salmon!
So, based on my first try, I would give a thumbs up to this latest paleo cookbook. I'm looking forward to trying a few more because the pictures of the recipes are literally mouthwatering. In my picture below, what you see of the salmon is mostly the skin laying on top. Crunchy, crunchy salmon skin - yum!

P.S. I started this month saying that I wanted to make October a "real food" month and I would say that I have mostly stuck with that theme. I've had a few treats here and there, but even most of these have been real food. What I have found is that I eat almost all real food anyway - thanks to a paleo way of eating. My favorite quote from Facebook this month: "Come to the dark side - we have bacon."
Second P.S. There is a lot of discontent brewing among the paleo community lately. It seems to me the conflict is mostly about a small variation in whether we should be eating carbs and which carbs we should be eating. I think the mistake these folks are making is that there is not one prescriptive paleo way of eating. As Mark Sisson so perfectly put it in a response to Jimmy Moore's post on the debate over "Safe Starches," we should be looking for commonalities, not differences in the paleo lifestyle. The ability of people to tolerate carbohydrates surely depends on their state of health at the moment, how much and what type of exercise they do, perhaps gender and age, and just normal genetic variability in the population. I have found that with strength training, for example, my tolerance of a few more carbs (usually still under 100 g per day) is definitely higher, but certain carbs like grains will always be a no-no for me. So, relax, folks, and let's not lose the overall message. Eat real food and figure out what works for you within the paleo paradigm.

Quick Post-Workout Dinner

2011-10-04T19:55:00.000-04:00

I don't like to eat before I go to the gym, so I usually wait until I get home. The cool weather, talk of food amongst the gym members, and the sun peeking out from behind clouds for the first time in weeks had my stomach growling by the time I got home. I had put out two frozen chicken breasts before I left and they were mostly thawed. This was not going to be a long preparation! I put some coconut oil in the heated pan, sprinkled some peri-peri spices on the chicken, and popped them into the pan to sizzle away. I found some frozen locally grown mushrooms in the freezer and fried them up in the pan alongside the chicken. They soaked up the peri-peri spices quite nicely. Simple and easy and all of 15 minutes, tops. One for me and one for my husband. Dessert was a delicious little local unsprayed pear from Everyday Local and a piece of 85% dark chocolate. If you live near Lancaster, PA, check out Everyday Local for incredibly fresh (and free of chemicals) fruit and vegetables sourced locally. The dog got to lick the plate after and he was quite happy.

Are you ready for a real food challenge?

2011-09-29T10:18:00.000-04:00

I came across this link on Facebook last night and thought it might be an interesting twist to the usual 30-day primal/paleo challenges: October Unprocessed 2011. The challenge is to eat unprocessed real food for the month of October.
The basic guideline is: Unprocessed food is any food that could be made by a person with reasonable skill in a home kitchen with readily available, whole-food ingredients.
Are you ready for that challenge? Am I? I'm going to give it a try. I have at least ten primal/paleo cookbooks just brimming with recipes to try and a thousand more recipes in my head. The biggest challenges are finding time in the kitchen every day and getting real food when eating out. Do french fries cooked in peanut oil from Five Guys count? Here is a discussion on last year's challenge about what defines real food: Defining Unprocessed Food. I agree with most of it with the exception of things made from grains - there is a lot of processing that goes into making that an edible product and even then, as far as I am concerned, it is mostly a toxic product. I might make an exception for a little rice or non-GMO corn.
I am not going to sign up on the site. I find that having to "check-in" on these types of challenges generally makes me quit early. I'm just going to do my best and record those instances on a spreadsheet on my computer somewhere when I eat processed junk. Anyone else want to give it a try?

Roasted Vegetables for Brilliant Minds

2011-09-23T20:20:00.001-04:00

My daughter has been gluten-free and mostly paleo for about two years now. She appreciates grassfed beef, pastured pork, chicken, and eggs sourced locally and the occasional batch of sausage, hot dogs, and ground lamb from US Wellness Meats, all of which she scarfs from my freezer when she comes home to visit from grad school. She's always been an excellent baker and is becoming quite an accomplished cook as well. Going GF and mostly paleo has relieved the bouts of vertigo and migraines she often suffered from as a teenager and young adult.
This post is really about my daughter and her friends. We have lived in the same rural area of southeastern Pennsylvania for 25 years. She was born and raised here and has a circle of friends that started in kindergarten and has survived moves to various college towns, study abroad semesters in Europe, and the influx of more friends from those experiences. The circle widened to include college friends, boyfriends, and even husbands. I have known most of these girls since early childhood. For a time, I was even the brownie and girl scout leader of a local troop with some of them - very odd considering I had never belonged to the Girl Scouts as a child. (I may have been a bit of an unusual leader - I'm not sure I followed all of the GSA routines to the letter, but we always had fun.) I've always loved this group of my daughter's friends. They are articulate and full of life and, unlike many teenagers and young adults, are able to carry on a conversation with the "old folks" when they come to visit. It has been fun over the years to watch them grow into adulthood. They are brilliant in many interpretations of the word.
All of this leads up to a conversation via Facebook that I had with one of her friends last week. The young lady lamented that she was suffering yet another headache and I commented "Give up the grains, girl!" To my surprise, she wrote a post on her own blog about doing just that. http://getoccupied.blogspot.com/2011/09/quote-unquote-stir-fry.html As anyone who has just started gluten-free or paleo knows, the road is fraught with errors, but it heartens me to read her progress into the land of real food. In her post, she talked a little about being afraid of cooking vegetables, so I thought I would share an easy way for young chefs to cook a variety of vegetables in an almost failproof recipe.
I put together this combination the other night, but you could put ANY vegetable in this dish and it would taste great. I purposely put an odd combination in this batch to show the versatility of this recipe: cauliflower, heirloom radishes from my garden, a Japanese sweet potato, a zucchini, one honeycrisp apple, and an onion. Cut these or any other vegetables you choose into similar sized chunks. Place in a shallow roasting pan or cookie sheet with sides. Sprinkle liberally with olive oil, coconut oil, butter, or ghee (NO vegetable oils!). Sprinkle liberally once again with salt and pepper to taste. Bake in the oven until the vegetables are cooked through and maybe just a little past that - so the flavors meld together and they brown just slightly. To finish, chop up some fresh herbs - I picked rosemary, thyme, and parsley from my herb pot - and sprinkle on top. You could even sprinkle a little grated parmesan over it all as well. Enjoy! I had some US Wellness hot dogs with mine on the side (Psssst, Spiv, the right kinds of red meat are good for you).

Meat Delivery!

2011-09-15T20:42:00.000-04:00

I am fortunate to live in an area of Pennsylvania where I have access to pastured pork and chicken and grassfed beef from local farmers. I can also get raw milk and dairy products (no thanks to the FDA) and I am surrounded by several orchards and suppliers of organic vegetables to supplement what I grow in my own garden. I have my own chickens for eggs (they are just reaching egg-laying age, but I have two older hens who produce an egg every other day) and I can supplement that supply with local pastured (really pastured) eggs. Even more amazing is that most of this stuff is available for less than grocery store prices for regular junk. The mixture of Pennsylvania Dutch and Scots-Irish in this area will not tolerate Whole Foods prices and so the prices remain fairly low.
That said, I sometimes want to branch out from the beef, pork, chicken routine and I like to keep a few things in the freezer that are easy to cook in a short amount of time. I decided to take a look at US Wellness Meats to see what they had to offer. I bought nitrate-free hotdogs, chicken sausage with spinach and feta, lamb osso bucco pieces, ground lamb, and 20 pounds of petburger (ground beef, heart, liver) for the new dog. I also bought two soy-free chocolate bars as a treat. The package arrived yesterday still frozen despite a bit of rough treatment from FedEx which cracked the styrofoam container that held the goods.
Tonight, the dog got a portion of the petburger with his grain-free kibble and I thought he would inhale the bowl in one gulp. I don't think he will be going back to canned food, even if it was Taste of the Wild. For my family, I pulled out a package of the chicken spinach feta sausage. Oh my. There is nothing in this sausage but real ingredients - no chemicals or additives - everything was recognizable as real food. And the taste? Amazing! There were six good-sized sausages in the packet. I usually find sausage a little repellent because the stuff from the store is often gristly. Not this sausage - perfectly ground, with lovely green sausage and melting feta, perfectly seasoned. I will be looking forward to more of these throughout the winter to come. I save enough on the locally supplied meats to splurge a little and these are worth the splurge!

Simple Primal Quiche

2011-09-07T19:38:00.001-04:00

Quiche is so simple and can be made with so many combinations that I almost feel guilty posting a recipe blog post about it. Who needs a gluten-y crust that will either get tough or stay mushy and takes too much time to make and roll out? I made this quiche the other morning in about 10 minutes (not including baking time). I had slices of it all week for breakfast.

Simple Primal Quiche:
Preheat oven to 400 and butter a pie dish.
-6-7 eggs (preferably pastured)
-1 cup heavy cream (you might be able to sub coconut or almond milk but no guarantees)
-Some kind of green vegetable (either frozen or fresh - steamed and well-drained - I used spinach this time)
-Some kind of meat (I used salami and cappicola ham, chopped)
- Salt and pepper to taste and a dash of cayenne pepper
- Some kind of cheese (I used an herbed raw milk goat cheddar - or you could leave it out if you don't do dairy, but it's terribly good with it)

Beat the eggs and cream together. Chop the vegetables and meat, add to the egg mixture. Add salt and pepper and cayenne. Pour into the buttered pie plate. Dot the mixture with cheese pieces or shred it and sprinkle over the top. Bake about 30 minutes or until the very middle is still a bit wobbly. It will solidify after you remove it from the oven. So simple!

Posted at Food Renegade Fight Back Friday and Real Food Forager Fat Tuesday

A Peck of Pickled Peppers and Chickens

2011-08-31T20:22:00.001-04:00

OK, so maybe not a peck, but four small canning jars worth at least. Many "pre-paleo" years ago, I found a recipe for these pickled peppers. I love to grow peppers of all kinds, from screaming hot habaneros to gently searing jalapenos to the mildest banana pepper. The smaller peppers seem to grow well in my garden and can be quit prolific little devils. The recipe literally takes minutes to prepare and you are rewarded with hot peppers to put on burgers, in chili, or wherever else you need a little sweet spiciness. These do have sugar in the recipe. I cut back a bit and they are still good. Since you will only be eating these as a condiment, I think you can get by with them on a paleo/primal diet.

Recipe for Pickled Peppers for Canning:
8 cups hot peppers - mixed colors are nice for visual appeal
2 cups cider vinegar - I used Bragg's
1 3/4 cup sugar - this was the original recipe - I used 1 cup
3/4 cup water
1 tsp mustard seed
1/2 tsp salt
garlic cloves
(I also added a sliced carrot because my daughter likes pickled hot carrots.)

Sterilize jars, rings, and lids (this makes about 4 pints). I used 1/2 pint jars. In saucepan, place sliced peppers, in enough water to cover. Heat to boiling and drain (the steam will make you cough and sneeze!). Pack tightly into jars. Place 2 garlic cloves in each jar.
Heat vinegar, sugar, water, mustard seed, and salt to boiling. Pour over peppers about 1/4 inch from rim. Seal with lids and rings. Process in a boiling water bath for 5 minutes.
Check to make sure all lids have sealed before storing.

In other news, my chickens have decided that my patio plants (begonias and an herb garden) are just wonderful for eating. These pics were taken after I chased them away for the tenth time this evening. They have also decimated what is left of my tomatoes in the garden. I am sensing a movable pen in their future. So far, the two roosters are getting along nicely (1 brahma, 1 buff orpington). Both breeds are very docile, so I hope their fighting instinct remains dormant since I like them both. Here is Big Boy Brahma and his pal, Red (we are not too inventive with chicken names since fox attrition is high around here). And the final pic is CrookyBeak, who is the old lady of the bunch and rules the roost literally. There are four other hens to keep the boys busy but three are too young to lay eggs yet. CrookyBeak abstains from sex, deeming herself above the station of the young bucks.

Pretty Strong for a Girl

2011-08-23T18:57:00.000-04:00

At McKenna's Gym today, strength-training master Mike was telling us how he had overheard a client tell another client that she was "pretty strong for a girl." Mike told us that he disapproved of that comment because it implied that women were somehow still on a lower level or less able than men. Shortly after, I watched as my longtime friend, Michele, back-squatted over 200 lbs with unbelievable determination and mental toughness and did it twice. She's been doing this training for about a year now. My daughter also did her best back squat today and so did I (55kg/121 lbs). We started in June and both of us could barely back-squat the bar alone at that time.

When I first started this training, I thought that I was in fairly decent shape for my age. It didn't take me long to discover many muscles that had gone into dormancy that wondered why the heck I was waking them up. I don't know if I've lost weight because I threw out my scale a long time ago, but I have lost 1 1/2 inches off my waist. I can see muscles in my arms and legs (and even my abs - OMG they are still in there!) that I haven't seen in a long time. My daughter, who is very slim and trim and runs every day, now has beautiful definition in her arms and legs. She can squat almost to the floor and pop up like a jack-in-the-box with a bunch of weight on the bar. She excels in the cardio section making jumping rope seem like an easy walk in the park. Each class runs about an hour and includes the lifts (first and foremost and my favorite part), other strength routines that include working with kettlebells, single leg squats or deadlifts, kettlebell presses, ring rows, etc., followed by some kind of heart rate-raising routine such as tabata rowing, jump-roping, kettlebell swings, etc. Sounds deadly, huh? It's not. It's pure fun. Oh yeah, some days there are parts I can't wait to get through, but I love it. It doesn't beat you up like some boxes and it gets results. And, more importantly, it makes me pretty strong for a girl...or anyone else for that matter.

So, yeah, I'd say we were pretty strong for girls, but then again, I bet there aren't too many guys out there that could do what we did today, either.

Paleo Podcasts

2011-08-11T12:42:00.000-04:00

I have a 25 mile (one-way) commute to and from work. Sometimes I like to drive in silence and enjoy the quiet and release from the connection to the rest of the world. Sometimes I crank up the music from the radio (WXPN from UPenn in Philly is awesome) or from my iPhone selections. Most of the time, however, I listen to podcasts from several paleo/primal blog posters to pass the commute time. Here's my review on some of my favorites:

The Livin' La Vida Low Carb Show (by Jimmy Moore) - Jimmy always brings enthusiasm to every project and his show is no exception. He is a prolific podcaster and somehow manages to book just about every paleo/primal personality on the planet. Everyone from primal guru Mark Sisson to paleo-antagonist fruitarian Durianrider to the top researchers in the field have been interviewed by Jimmy. Jimmy's southern accent and charm often disguise the tough questions he asks and usually he is not afraid to push a point if the interviewee evades the question, though he has occasionally softballed an interview. He doesn't exclusively cover paleo/primal information because, as evidenced by his show's title, he started as a low-carb blogger. Jimmy's podcast is one of my favorites. Be sure to check out the interview with Dr. Seyfried from Boston on cancer treatment. It's an eye-opener.

The Paleo Solution (by Robb Wolf). Robb uses a different format than Jimmy Moore. He pairs up with Greg Everett (of Catalyst Athletics) to create a question and answer format using questions from followers of Wolf's blog and facebook pages. The original question part of the interview used to be performed by Andy Deas. I actually preferred Andy's style (and was often amused by his butchering of scientific terminology). Everett brings a more serious side to the podcast and will often contribute his own thoughts to Wolf's answers. This is the podcast to go to for great conversation about the science behind the paleo solution. Wolf knows his stuff and can be funny to boot. There haven't been a lot of new podcasts lately, but there is a huge archive of shows to listen (and re-listen) to. I think this podcast is solely responsible for adding the word "gig" to my vocabulary, for good or bad. Holy Cats!

BTR: Underground Wellness (Sean Croxton). Sean Croxton is another very prolific podcaster and often interviews people that don't show up on the other podcast lineups. He has a congenial interview style but maybe doesn't always ask the tough questions you would like to hear. My only complaint - the intro usually has Sean saying something like "Yo, yo, yo, you all!" at a volume that often blasts me out of my seat while I'm driving. Other than that, his podcast is enjoyable and informative.

The Healthy Skeptic (Chris Kresser). Chris' podcast started out a little slow with him reading some prepared notes on various topics. That format was a bit boring but then he moved more to an interview and Q&A format that was more interesting. His podcast list is a bit short at this point and it is hard to say if he will keep up the podcast with a new baby in the picture and a change in name from The Healthy Skeptic to ChrisKresser.com on his blog. It will be interesting to see where he takes his blog and podcast in the future. He has a lot of information to share so I hope he keeps producing podcasts. My only complaint is the sound picking up what sounds like a sniffling or clearing the throat sound during the podcasts which might make some people think twice about taking health advice from Chris. I think his advice is sound though and his podcast is worth listening to, so give it a try.

Dr. John Briffa (John Briffa). This podcast is my new favorite. Dr. Briffa uses a Q&A format similar to Robb Wolf's. Quite frankly, I love hearing the British accents of both participants. Dr. Briffa's answers come across as intelligent without the smugness of some other podcasters I've listened to and he is not afraid to point out the problems with the current health/medical industry. It's nice to get a perspective from outside the U.S. and to find that the problems we have here are duplicated there as well. I just started to listen to Dr. Briffa's podcasts and look forward to many more.

Everyday Paleo (Sarah Fragoso and Chrissy Gower). I love, love, love the Everyday Paleo Cookbook. The recipes in that book are outstanding. I am not as crazy about the podcast because it tends to focus on implementing a paleo lifestyle in families with young children and that is just not as pertinent to my life. However, if you are a young mom who wants to find out how to get your kids to eat and live paleo, this is a great podcast for you. It is not all they focus on, but it does tend to center on that topic. It will be interesting to see if Sarah and Chrissy branch out more in the future to other topics. The only annoying part is the similarity of their accents (California?), so it is sometimes difficult to discern which one is doing the talking. Give them a listen especially if you have a young family.

Those are not the only paleo/primal podcasts out there, but those are the ones I've listened to so far. All of these podcasts are available for free on iTunes - you can't beat that. Many of the other bloggers listed in my sidebar also do occasional videocasts and podcasts on other formats. Happy listening!

Capturing Summer - Primal Ratatouille

2011-08-04T16:37:00.000-04:00

This is the time of year when the garden is producing its biggest bounty before the inevitable waning throughout the rest of the dog days of August. Crab grass is trying to infiltrate the beds and amaranth, pokeweed, and other weeds seem to spring up overnight. The tomato plants are literally falling over, loaded with ripe tomatoes, and the squash plants are producing one last group of offspring before the squash bugs do them in. Any beans I missed picking the first time around have gotten too big and beany to eat so I pull up the plants and let them decay on the bed, returning nitrogen and the beneficial bacteria to the soil. Carrots and beets are still growing and, for the first time this year, I have a successful eggplant crop! Lettuce is going dormant for now, but may hang around long enough to give me a bonus fall crop. Now, it is the time for maintenance and harvesting.
In the meantime, my kitchen appears to be a stockpile of vegetables, with tomatoes piled on every counter and squash stacked on the kitchen table. Loads of cayenne, green, and cherry peppers fill a basket. Some things can stand the test of time and will last for a while like the peppers and squash. But the tomatoes have a short life, so they must be used at their peak before they turn into rotting unpleasant things.
This dish was born of these days of garden plenty - a simple ratatouille. Simply heat some grease in a pan (I used bacon grease but coconut, lard, or other good fats will do fine). Add chopped onions, chopped zucchini or other squash, chopped tomatoes, fresh herbs like tarragon, basil, or oregano, salt and pepper. I also had two kohlrabi bulbs that I chopped and put in the pan. This was my first time trying kohlrabi (I bought it at a local organic market) and it tastes a bit like turnip to me. I added some garlic too. Slowly simmer until it melds into a delicious, thick, wonderful mixture. I cooked some grass-fed burgers to go alongside then I covered the burgers with the ratatouille - so good!
Here's the before picture:

Here are the burgers:

Here's the finished product:

I can't begin to tell you how good this is. Try to get real tomatoes if you don't grow your own - those things in the store just don't cut it. Last night I cooked up the rest of the picked tomatoes into a spaghetti sauce that I will freeze. We will remember these dog days of August this winter when we make a zucchini lasagna or cover spaghetti squash noodles with a sauce that smells and tastes of summer.

Paleo Vacation?

2011-07-28T10:33:00.000-04:00

Hmmm, maybe not so much. As I've said before, gluten is never an option for me and at this point, foods that contain gluten don't even tempt me anymore. But staying paleo on vacation can be a challenge. What have we eaten this week that is paleo?

eggs
bacon
sausage
turkey
roast chicken with caramelized onions
some fruit - peaches, apples, oranges
fish - grouper, salmon, crab, lobster
butter, heavy cream, cheese (obviously, we eat some dairy)
sweet potato mash
broccoli slaw
salad greens
tomatoes
cold peach soup
coffee
water and sparkling water

What about non-paleo? Ahem...

some alcohol but only GF and no sugary drinks
a delicious GF peach pie slice and GF cheesecake slice shared between the three of us
a few GF cookies
corn tortilla chips with salsa and guacamole at a local favorite Mexican place
the best locally made fudge - a once a year treat since we can only buy it here
yogurt ice cream - my biggest mistake since I felt like crap afterwards
GF Udi's bread

That's about it. Not really so bad. Undoubtably, my paleo list differs from what some folks would consider paleo, but that is the beauty of the paleosphere. I will not treat this as a religion - there are enough rules imposed on us in all aspects of life. There is occasional room for some of the non-paleo in my life and I save it for the better foods when I can get them.
I try to avoid the worst neolithic agents of disease as much as possible and I think that allows for just a little room in my paleo plate once in a while. As with my foray into yogurt-land, I can tell quickly if something is not going to fit into my paleo scenario so it is becoming easier to stay on the paleo track. It took me about two years to really get into the gluten-free groove. This is the end of my first year eating primally, so I figure by next year, I ought to have it down pat. Enjoy life!

Not-Quite-Pasta Bake

2011-07-20T21:28:00.000-04:00

Today, I'm featuring a guest post from my daughter who is settling into her new apartment as she prepares to attend grad school. A few weeks ago, I wrote a blog post on Sarah Fragoso's Everyday Paleo cookbook and her Hasta La Vista Lasagna recipe. Everyone who has made that recipe loves it, including my daughter. She decided to try a slight variation on the recipe and has declared it a hit. And it is just one more way to use abundant zucchini! Here's her post:
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The majority of my friends don't understand my GF and mostly paleo food choices-- they think I'm crazy for not eating bread, cake, etc, etc. It can be a challenge for us to eat together, especially when they want to go out for Italian food, and I've had to be creative in finding middle ground for all our tastes. That said, I love to cook and bake for others. I just moved to a new apartment and am looking forward to cooking for friends, so I've been thinking about recipes that are easily adapted for Paleo and non-Paleo eaters alike. This was the first meal I cooked in my new place, so I had a limited array of ingredients on hand. I had a squash from my mom's garden that I wanted to use, so I decided to riff on her paleo lasagna with squash "noodles" to make a pasta bake.

I made this recipe two ways-- one with squash where pasta would usually be, and one with Tinkyada rice pasta and squash together. (You could also make it with just pasta if you have some picky friends like I do.) I used small stoneware dishes so that each pasta bake could have its own ingredients based on the intended diner. I personally prefer the version with just squash, which has a richer taste than the pasta, but the version with noodles was good too, and I think I could serve it to my non-paleo friends with no complaints. I used panchetta in the sauce but crumbled sausage would also work well-- the important part is choosing a meat to add some extra salty flavor, since the squash and mozzarella are quite mild.

Not-Quite-Pasta Bake

Panchetta

Squash

Rice noodles (optional)

Pasta sauce of your choice

Fresh mozzarella

Fry the panchetta on medium heat and cook the rice noodles while cutting the squash into thin slices. Keep the slices thin, since the heat from the sauce will do the cooking for the squash. When the panchetta is starting to crisp, add the pasta sauce to the pan and let it heat. In individual, oven-safe dishes, layer the squash and sauce as you would a lasagna. If you include noodles in your bake, you can alternate layers of squash and noodles. When each dish is full, put a last layer of sauce on top then slice the mozzarella over the top. Place the individual dishes in a 375 degree oven until the cheese is melted.

Mom's note: I usually cut the zucchini "noodles" lengthwise, but a couple of people have told me that crosswise works just as well and is a lot easier to cut. Such a talented daughter <3

Why I Blog

2011-07-14T11:41:00.002-04:00

Recently there has been a spate of blog posts on the interwebs about what paleo bloggers should be and should not be blogging about. The paleo/primal idea is big. It turns the conventional claptrap about how we should fuel our bodies on its head. Paleo/primal eating is based on science. We may not all agree on all of that science, but the fact remains that BECAUSE OF THE INTERNET AND PALEO BLOGGERS, no other way of eating has been so intensely studied, scrutinized, and investigated. This community of bloggers includes scientists, biochemists, physiologists, business people, educators, medical doctors and Ph.D.'s, evolutionary biologists, athletes and trainers, and many people without a fancy title but who have the intelligence to look at the data and analyze and interpret what they read. Many in the paleosphere conduct n=1 experiments on ourselves. Who best to determine what works for you?

In response to a discussion on PaleoHacks not too long ago about what bloggers should be posting, I wrote this about the evolution of the paleo/primal message:

Actually, I find the evolution of the paleo idea pretty fascinating. I've been following lots of paleo blogs for the last three years. I started with MarksDailyApple, still one of my favorites. Mark has more of a middle-of-the-road approach (Primal) and has stayed fairly consistent with his moderate message yet still seems to come up with interesting material every day. However, you can see the changes in the paleo message through the other bloggers. At first, there was the interpretation of the Cordain message - lower fat, low carb, high protein. Then fat made a comeback big time, so we had the bacon blogs and pictures of bacon wrapping everything all over the web. Then, we had the VLC or even zero-carbers make an entrance - meat, meat, and more meat. Next, exercise, especially Crossfit, entered (more on that in a second). There were several other permutations along the way, but now the carbs are making a small comeback and some bloggers have gone all the way over to that side (Primal Wisdom and a really obnoxious "straightline-Health" blogger). We are seeing that once metabolic syndrome has been slowed down or stopped, that maybe a superfit Crossfitter or lifter needs some starchy carbs or they might start suffering cortisol issues. And just recently, we have been told that we should not be eating food that tastes good because that might be making us fat. I know Dr. Kruse gets some flack on here from time to time - his writing style is a bit obtuse - but I like his idea of a paleo Quilt. This community has discovered a lot of little things and I think these little things are coming together to create one very large idea. That is the beauty of this amazing community of bloggers consisting of scientists, athletes, doctors, cooks and chefs, fat people, skinny people, kids who climb on rocks, whoever. We are creating a very big idea based on science and N=1 experiments and just plain intelligent discourse. It's not a religion, it's not a philosophy, it is, perhaps, a scientific theory explained by facts. As for me, I'll just keep writing about my recipes and general life. Doesn't really matter to me if you want to read it or not ;)

So, the moral of my story today is that there is a place for all of the paleo bloggers. Some of us post recipes and pretty food pictures, some of us post meticulous investigations of the latest research, some of us post pictures of our latest hang-gliding adventure or a trip to a MovNat camp or even lounging on the beach. There is a place for all of us. The beauty of the internet is that you have the option to read or not. And, with that said, here are pictures of my garden bounty and some local fruit we had for dinner this week. Enjoy!

String beans picked 10 minutes earlier steaming in a pot.

Mini eggplants for baba ganoush!

Local stone fruits (plums, peaches, cherries) and blueberries. Gotta love summer!

Zucchini Chips or How I Conquered My Zucchini Overload

2011-07-06T15:46:00.000-04:00

Anyone who has ever grown zucchini knows that you eagerly await the first green baby and lovingly pluck it from the vine, only to be inundated with multitudes of the stuff for the next few weeks. Some will grow overnight into giants, not really all that great for eating unless you grind them up into zucchini cakes or make zucchini soup. At some point, I give up on those and have some fun chucking them into the adjacent field as far as I can. When I am on top of things in the garden though, I pick them early, about 6-8 inches long. They are tender and tasty at this stage and we might even be able to keep up with production.

When they are at peak season, however, drastic measures are called for to get rid of the excess. I'll freeze some for winter eating (slice, blanch, freeze on a cookie sheet, then store in bags or grate, squeeze the water out, and store for zucchini muffins, etc.). This year, I decided to try something new - dried zucchini chips. These were so easy. Slice about 1/8 inch thick. If you have a mandolin, kudos to you, but I did it the old-fashioned way and it wasn't hard. I sprinkled the slices with seasoning - choose whatever suits your fancy. Place the slices in a dehydrator. Turn it on and wait until they are very dry - several hours at least. I know there are oven methods as well, but I invested in a dehydrator last year and am glad I did. Once the chips are dried, spread them on paper towels to cool, then store in a glass jar. These are tasty alone or with a dip.

These Ain't My Mama's Fried Tomatoes...

2011-06-29T19:03:00.001-04:00

...but they're close. My mother's family was from the South and even though we grew up in "northern" Maryland, there was a definite southern influence in my mother's cooking. That is probably how I managed to escape the ravages of gluten sensitivity until my early adulthood. While southern cooking often included bread and baked goods, it also included at least 3-4 different vegetables at every meal along with a satisfying quantity of meat. You didn't need to eat any bread to be full. Most of our foods were not processed in any way unless you counted the canning that my mother did all summer long. We had string beans, tomatoes, relishes, pickles, peaches, apples, jams, and other assorted summer bounty all winter long thanks to the rows of jars stored in the basement.

My father planted a big garden - nearly an acre's worth of vegetables - 200 tomato plants and zucchini, beans, corn, onions, lettuce, and whatever else struck his fancy that year. It wasn't organic - my father believed in ample supplies of Sevin dust and fertilizers, but it must have been fairly innocuous stuff. The bounty from that garden certainly did not contain the industrial oils, added sugars, and preservatives and other chemicals that processed food contains today. We sold the extra in a little roadside stand at the end of our driveway. Our tomatoes were the sweetest around - Georgia Big Boys - and people came from all over to buy them.

Sometimes, orthodox paleos like to chastise people for creating dishes that mimic processed foods - paleo pizza, almond flour desserts, etc. But, come on, who doesn't miss those foods once in a while? I have long gotten over my desire for bread and most dessert substitutes. I really just don't want them any more except for a few cookies at Christmas or the occasional gluten-free pizza (or meatza). Everyday Paleo's lasagne is better than regular lasagne - really! But when summer comes, I still crave this simple summer meal that my mother made: fried tomatoes, fried squash, bacon, and tomato gravy. Sure, she served it on toast, but I found that toast is not needed at all and the flour that was traditionally used is easily substituted. So enjoy the pictures below - I certainly enjoyed the food tonight!

Fried zucchini and patty pan squash. Just dip the squash in a tiny bit of almond flour and salt and pepper and fry in bacon grease or lard. Drain on a paper towel.

Do the same with the tomatoes as with the squash. Leave a couple in the pan for the gravy. We always fried red tomatoes, never green.

While you are cooking the squash and tomatoes, "fry" up some bacon in the oven.

Smash a couple of those fried tomatoes in the leftover bits from the squash and tomatoes, stir in some milk (I used raw goat milk, but you could certainly use coconut milk or almond milk). Sprinkle just a tiny amount of arrowroot powder in there to thicken it. You can also use the leftover almond flour if needed. If you like, smash a couple of pieces of cooked bacon in there as well. Salt and pepper are a must. You have now made tomato gravy.

Traditionally, we served this over toast, but honestly, you will not miss the toast at all. Place some fried tomatoes and squash on the plate, add some bacon, cover with gravy, eat and go to southern heaven.

Are Raspberries Primal?

2011-06-22T19:39:00.000-04:00

We have black raspberries coming in by the gallon, literally. My daughter, now 23, has always been my raspberry picker. For some reason, since she was a wee child, she has found a bit of zen following the hedge rows where the wild raspberries grow and filling up quart after quart container of the sweet black beauties. This year has been an absolute banner year for the berries. I have at least 2 gallons of black raspberries that she has picked so far this year in the freezer waiting for a cooler time when I can make seedless raspberry jam and syrup for primal pancakes this winter. We always set a pint or so aside for salads and snacking. They are fragile, lasting only a day, and turning to mold if not eaten quickly.
My raspberry picker will be off to grad school soon but by that time the berries will be done for the season and the next local fruit will be on the table - perhaps cherries or blueberries, then peaches. You cannot tell me that primal man did not indulge in fruit when it was in season. But the fact that the season of each fruit is so fleeting prevents too much indulgence, so enjoy them while you can.

Primal Strength

2011-06-15T20:27:00.000-04:00

On June 1st, I started strength training at a very local (only 1 1/2 miles away!) gym (McKenna's). I am a complete novice to the free weight world but Mike, the trainer, is patient and better yet, has the know-how and direct experience to teach anyone the correct way to strength train whether they are old, young, female, male, in shape, or out of shape. He knows his stuff and knows how to communicate it.

So, what have I learned from this foray into this new world?
   1. I like how it varies from session to session, because I get bored easily with routine and Mike switches it up. I lifted weights in several different forms (I won't list them because I am so new I will screw up the names), swung kettlebells, used some godawful machine that works your glutes and hamstrings, used rings to do body rows, smacked a medicine ball into the floor 100 times, lifted dumbbells and kettlebells over my head, and several other things I've probably forgotten by now. All in three sessions so far. Looking forward to whatever is next. No mind-numbing cardio or machines.
   2. DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness) will set in. First session, I felt the squats about 36 hours later in first my hamstrings, then my quads, then my glutes. What is interesting is that the soreness travels from one area to another, which is fascinating to this Anatomy teacher as I try to identify the specific muscle that is affected. My cervical vertebrae also let me know that I needed to lower that bar just a bit onto my trapezius muscles next time I did squats with a weighted bar. Nice reinforcement. Second session, my legs felt like I had been doing this for years (side benefit of DOMS, apparently) and my traps, deltoid, and latissimus dorsi muscles felt the brunt. Again, in a sort of one-at-a-time progression. Third session, the deltoids and biceps are feeling it, but I expect the triceps to kick in a bit later. None of this has been bad. In fact, it's almost a good pain (that sounds kinky) but it's kind of cool how you can almost feel the muscles getting stronger. By 48 hours, all pain will be gone and I'll be ready for the next session. Doing stuff in between sessions definitely helps the process move along quicker.
   3. My left arm is weaker than my right. Kind of knew that but the knowledge was reinforced when I could lift the kettlebell with my right arm for the complete set, but my left arm said no way about half way through and refused to budge.
   4. My VFFs have been accepted so far. They feel really stable to me as I work. I really hate traditional athletic type shoes - they hurt my flexible feet and my toes like their freedom - but if I see a need, I will invest in a pair of weightlifting shoes if I have to.
   5. I am pleasantly surprised to find that there are other people in the area who know paleo/primal eating. That is a relief since I don't have to go through explaining what it is, why it works, that it is based on sound science and research, and how Conventional Wisdom has had it wrong for so long.
   6. Going to a Mumford and Sons concert and spending 3 hours hopping up and down to the music without any tiredness in my legs proved that this strength training stuff has practical applications as well.

Speaking of Mumford and Sons, here's a little clip for your listening pleasure. It's from an iPhone so please excuse the sound and picture quality.

My Food Pyramid (uh, Plate)

2011-06-07T21:14:00.001-04:00

The USDA came out this week with their usual nonsensical recommendations for a healthy diet. Since this is the same organization, along with our illustrious FDA, that oversees what we feed our kids in schools, let's just say my faith in either of those government entities is nil. This is what a typical school meal looks like (I know, I taught high school for 23+ years):

Brown, brown, and more brown. Doesn't that look yummy? Top that off with the HFCS powerade drink and you have a recipe for disaster when it comes to post-lunch classes.

This was my dinner tonight and what I recommend as a good sample of what a food plate should look like:

Fresh, local, chemical-free spinach, two local free-range eggs (look at those yolks!), nitrate-free bacon, an avocado, and water from my deep well. Sprinkle some salt and pepper and drizzle some olive oil on that salad and baby, you have a real meal: meat, veggies, good fats.

I wonder how our kids would perform at school if they were given this option for lunch instead of the Big Ag subsidized crap that we feed them?

Primal Grill

2011-05-25T21:25:00.000-04:00

Pictures tell the tale of the primal grill this evening. Finally, finally, we have temperatures above 75 with a light warm breeze, that yellow thing called the sun, and NO RAIN. Perfect grilling weather. A quick trip to the local farmer's market bagged some hoophouse locally grown tomatoes, green onions, and some ripe red fresh local strawberries. The Amish man I bought the berries from told me he picked them this morning. The Amish can be slick salesmen, but I believe him - these were good. I already had Boston lettuce from Lancaster, PA and some organic carrots, and even some Israeli olive oil (delicious!). Two grassfed steaks from my freezer, a ripe avocado, a sweet white onion, and my own parsley and chive flowers completed the meal. See below. 'Nuff said.

Porch Pictures

2011-05-15T15:21:00.000-04:00

I love my porches. I have a smallish front porch, just wide enough for a porch swing, a couple of rockers, some benches and plants. It is shady most of the day until late afternoon. On a cool spring day, you can bask in the late afternoon sun. In the summer, that porch is for morning coffee or late evening relaxing with a cool drink. My great-grandmother's milk-paint bench resides on that porch along with the swing from the 1920s rescued from my parents' barn. One rocker comes from a yard sale and one from my dad's house after his passing. The deck is painted light gray, the ceiling a light sage green, and the columns white in the tradition of almost all the porches in the mid-Atlantic area. It is a porch of nostalgia and calm.

The back porch is really a patio. The real back porch was converted to an entry room long ago by the previous owners. We've been here 25 years now. We had the patio built a few years ago to cover a spot that gets very little sun and thus was perpetually muddy most of the year. We had the pavers "tumbled" so they looked a bit older to match our 1840s house. It is the coolest spot in the summer, under the shade of a huge maple. My four cats lounge there almost all day, looking rather annoyed if you chase them off a chair to sit. We have our backyard barbeque meals there and it is the spot to sit down for a spell after working in the garden. I planted a little herb garden there in a pot for quick clippings during the preparation of dinner. I also tend to buy annuals for this area as it is too dry and shady for most plants. The one thing lucky about the weather this year (the only thing) is that it has consistently rained, so I don't have to drag the hose out to water the potted plants. My indoor plants come out from winter hibernation to this place as well and they thrive in the fresh air and filtered sunlight. The dog (13 years old!) thinks it is a good spot too to watch the goings-on of the neighborhood, though he prefers the couch.

And finally, the view from my back porch...I love my porches.

Hasta La Vista Pasta!

2011-05-09T19:15:00.000-04:00

I have been doing 31 days of primality this month to kick the sugar habit and fine tune my paleo/primal diet (see the page tab at the top). I vowed to try one new recipe from a paleo/primal cookbook or other source each day. I rate each recipe tried on the 31 Days of Primality page, but I just had to feature this recipe on the home page tonight. It is from Everyday Paleo, a cookbook by Sarah Fragoso. So far every recipe from this book has been a winner, but this one is the best so far: Hasta La Vista Lasagna.

As you can see from the picture, I added a little cheese (a local raw milk tomme and a local raw goat milk chevre with some parmesan on top). It would have been just as good without the cheese, but I do eat some dairy and life without cheese is, well, pretty sad and I have no reaction to cheese, so why not? I gave up gluten three years ago, have eliminated most sugar, but cheese in moderate amounts is gonna stay.

At any rate, this would be great either with or without. What's in it? Onions, garlic, grassfed ground beef, local mild turkey sausage, oregano, basil, cayenne, salt, pepper, tomatoes and tomato paste, and the secret ingredient: thinly sliced zucchini! Both my daughter and I agreed that we actually like the zucchini noodles better. Honestly, I will use this recipe for lasagna from now on. It is that good.

Gonna Start Again in the Month of May

2011-05-04T21:11:00.002-04:00

The title of this post is from Arcade Fire's Month of May lyrics. Love that song and I love their music - all of it. Anyway, this post is really about rediscovering paleo/primal eating in the month of May. It's easy to slip slowly from 80/20 eating to 70/30 to 60/40 to 50/50...you get the picture. I was eating way too many gluten-free substitutes and too many sugary foods. Time to break the pattern. So I began 31 Days of Primality. You'll find a new page called that in my headings at the top of this blog.

For the four days of May so far, I have stayed on track. Day 1 was easy - it always is. Day 2 - I felt a little draggy and headachy. Day 3 - some pretty intense chocolate cravings. Day 4 - the energy is kicking in!

I bought two new cookbooks this month: Mark Sisson's Primal Blueprint Quick and Easy Meals and Sarah Fragoso's Everyday Paleo. Both contain absolutely wonderful easy recipes. I plan on making at least one recipe per day from one of those or several other paleo cookbooks I have accumulated. I haven't hit a dud yet. Tonight, after coming home from a trip to Lancaster, PA to pick up my weekly "bundle" from Everyday Local (CSA) and a visit to Expressly Local (an amazing little store in Lancaster City with local, organic, sustainable foods of all kinds), my daughter and I made two more recipes from Fragoso's book. Again, amazing. The picture below tells the tale of Shrimp Tacos, Kids Love Cabbage Slaw, and my daughter's guacamole:

Buy this book...it is good, really good. As a bonus, you also get a nice illustrated exercise plan, doable for those of us who do not live in gyms, a weekly menu plan and shopping list for a full month, and a beautifully illustrated cookbook with delicious recipes.

To give credit where credit is due, you also cannot go wrong with any cookbook by Mark Sisson. I've never cooked a recipe from his books I didn't like. So no more excuses - I've started again in the month of May. Take a look at my 31 Days of Primality page to see my progress.

And thanks to Primal Toad, Food Renegade, and Modern Paleo for providing links to this spot. See the sidebar? They are all listed there!

Royal Chicken Tenders...

2011-04-27T21:14:00.000-04:00

...because we are inundated with royal wedding news, so why not? Our local farmer's market had fresh chicken tenders from pastured chickens this week. I dipped them in eggs from the same vendor, re-dipped them in coconut flour and fried them in lard from our "happy pig." Asparagus is also abundant in our garden this week after an abysmally cold spring finally burst into warm temperatures. After the tenders were done cooking, I quickly stir-fried the asparagus in the pan drippings. The result:

My only complaint is that next time I might use almond flour since the coconut tends not to get as crispy as I would like. Still good though and fit for a queen ;)

Food for a Primal Smackdown

2011-04-14T19:47:00.001-04:00

OK, this should be fun. Richard Nikoley of Free the Animal debates Durian Rider (infamous trolling raw fruit vegan). Check for the link to the show on his post - 9pm EST tonight: Nikoley-Durian Debate

For those who don't follow Richard at Free the Animal (see the blog link on the sidebar), he does not mince words and does not suffer fools easily. Durian Rider (a.k.a. Harley something or other) is a crazed raw fruit vegan who runs a site called... never mind, I won't give him the satisfaction of posting his link here, but let's just say he promotes eating a lot, a whole lot, of bananas, and specializes in eating the stinky durian fruit, hence his nickname. He looks sickly thin, almost anorexic, and obviously his eating disorder has affected his mind. He claims folks like Robb Wolf and Richard Nikoley are "fatsos." Yeah, ok, uh huh. The debate should be fun - I hope the link/feed works well tonight!

In celebration of the Primal Smackdown, I made a very tasty primal egg casserole. Here it is - honestly the picture doesn't do it justice. I'll put the recipe on the recipe page. I had two large pieces and didn't need to eat 30 bananas to fill me up.

For another primal tease, try these primal mushroom pizzas:

Take a portabella cap (I scrape out the gills, but that is not necessary). Line the inside with tomato sauce, cover with some meat, a few greens (mixed baby greens in this case), cover with a slice of provolone, pop into the oven. Unbelievable!

Simple Supper

2011-04-07T18:40:00.001-04:00

My mother always called dinner "supper." She was raised for a good part of her childhood by grandparents that were as southern as southern comes and supper was the name for their evening meal. She often told the story of how her Methodist grandfather, who was the spitting image of Colonel Sanders, would often extend the thanks giving for quite a spell, until her grandmother would give him a swift kick under the table to shorten the sermon. No wonder my mother was not fond of religion.

I still use dinner and supper interchangeably. Somehow certain meals seem more like dinner and others like supper. Supper meals seem simpler to me. They are always homecooked with fresh ingredients. They might be a "breakfast for supper" or a light meal like the one I made earlier this week:

This is just some fresh baby greens piled on top of leaves of Boston lettuce (both from Everyday Local) and topped with some warm chicken breast meat, salt and pepper, and a drizzle of olive oil. I had about four of those "sandwiches." That's what I call supper.

Goat's Butter and a Quick Frittata

2011-03-31T20:08:00.001-04:00

This is the best butter I have ever tasted:

It is St. Helen's Goat's Butter from Yorkshire England. I buy mine from Wegman's in Maryland. It is a bit pricey at $7.99 a roll, but well worth it. It is not a raw product, nor is the farm completely organic, but this butter tastes wonderful. I literally cut off pieces from time to time and eat them as is - who needs bread! The butter is silky, slightly sweet and salty, with a crisp aftertaste.

I had to work later than usual tonight, so a quick frittata was the ticket to a tasty dinner. Eight local eggs (including a few from my own hens), some muenster and parmesan cheeses, salami, a bit of chimichurri sauce, a

few tomatoes, and a hefty handful of baby red kale (supplied by Everyday Local) and a frittata was born.

Beat the eggs lightly in a bowl with a small bit of water. Put copious amounts of butter (see first paragraph) into a large frying pan. Pour in the eggs, let cook about halfway. Top with whatever combination of cheese, meat, tomatoes, and sauce you like. Add several handfuls of greens. Place under the broiler until cheese melts and egg sets. Done. Before and after broiling below. Enjoy!

P.S. Are you a Food Renegade?

Chicken Pot "Pie"

2011-03-24T20:05:00.000-04:00

There are some memories from pre-paleo days that bring back a pang of longing for a certain taste, mouth feel, or smell that cannot be duplicated. When I was little, my mother would occasionally buy those little chicken pot pies. Mostly doughy crust with a filling of tiny bits of chicken, some onions, peas, carrots, and gravy were (and still are) junk food in a frozen box, but they were good. They would arrive hot and bubbly out of the oven and you would burn your mouth on the underside of the crust that touched the hot gravy. It became hard to find a good pot pie after a while. Manufacturers began using cheaper pieces of chicken and vegetables became hard to find in the gloppy gravy.

All of this leads to my mostly paleo discovery of a way to get the taste of pot pie without the carb and grain-laden crust and gravy. First, I peeled and boiled in water two very large turnips with about 1/2 of an onion and 3-4 peeled cloves of garlic. As that was simmering, I removed the meat from 4 chicken breasts that I had oven-baked the night before. I placed the chicken chunks in a shallow pan, added about a 1/4 bag of frozen peas and about 2 cups of chicken broth. Add plenty of salt and pepper. I heated that to boiling and made an arrowroot slurry, added it to the broth, and a gravy was born. By that time, the turnips were done. I mashed the onion, turnip, and garlic with a potato masher and about 3 tbsps of butter and some salt.

The dark stuff on the side is cranberry sauce. Definitely non-paleo if you are avoiding any sugar. It is a can of jellied cranberry sauce mixed with a pint of real cranberries. It is very tart and the sugar content is "watered down" considerably by diluting the jell with the cranberries.

If you are orthodox paleo, substitute carrots or even pearl onions for the peas and leave out the cranberry sauce or make your own from scratch using cranberries and maybe some orange to sweeten.

Weekly Menu Two

2011-03-16T16:48:00.001-04:00

A lot of these selections for the Weekly Menu 2 from the Great Minds of Paleo came from recipes or suggestions from their websites. I'll place this as a pdf in the Menus section as well, but here it is for your viewing pleasure below. I'll probably do one more of these to post on the Menu page. That should give me (and you) a good base for planning paleo/primal menus.

Primal Menu - Week Two

Breakfast:

Monday: (Sisson) Egg casserole or frittata (eggs, veggies, sausage, salsa). Green tea.

Tuesday: (Wolf) Broccoli bacon basil scramble (eggs, broccoli, bacon, basil). Espresso.

Wednesday: (Gedgaudas) Sausage, stirfry with vegetables.

Thursday: (DeVany), Eggs, bacon, fried tomatoes..

Friday: (Cordain) Omelet with spinach and mushrooms.

Saturday: (Taubes) Bacon or sausage, eggs, low carb veg.

Sunday: Any breakfast paleo/primal recipe.

Lunch:

Monday: (Sisson) Primal salad - mixed greens, onions, jicama, red peppers, tomatoes, chicken, sesame seeds, walnuts, olive oil.

Tuesday: (Wolf) Steamed veggies and shrimp fried in coconut oil.

Wednesday: (Gedgaudas) Thai salad with spicy dressing (cabbage, chicken, bell pepper, carrot, green onions, fresh mushrooms, macadamia nuts, cilantro, red wine vinegar, olive or sesame oil, wheat-free tamari or soy, lime juice, garlic, ginger, red pepper flakes, jalapeno.

Thursday: (DeVany) Tuna, green leafy vegetable, cherries.

Friday: (Cordain) Salmon caesar salad (cooked salmon, olive oil, romaine, red onion, garlic, crushed mustard seed, lemon juice, black pepper).

Saturday: (Taubes) Chicken or tuna with salad, bacon, chopped eggs, dressing.

Sunday: Any lunch paleo/primal recipe.

Dinner:

Monday: (Sisson) Wild salmon, asparagus and zucchini with butter, glass of red wine.

Tuesday: (Wolf) Chicken and chard (chicken, swiss chard, chicken stock, olive oil).

Wednesday: (Gedgaudas) Beef stew (beef, tomato, mushrooms, onion, pepper, olive oil, butter, garlic, salt, basil).

Thursday: (DeVany) Pork chops, spinach with almonds, pear.

Friday: (Cordain) Paleo chicken in a pot (2-3 lb chicken, olive oil, carrots, celery, onions, water, sage, rosemary, bay leaf).

Saturday: (Taubes) Any meat with 1 cup salad or cooked greens, 1/2 cup of other vegetables.

Sunday: Any dinner paleo/primal recipe.

A Weekly Paleo/Primal Menu from the Great Minds of Paleo

2011-03-12T11:40:00.000-05:00

I have a quite a collection of paleo/primal books now. Each author has his/her own take on the subject. Mark Sisson (The Primal Blueprint) promotes a sensible primal lifestyle with occasional uses of the 80/20 rule - have an infrequent non-primal moment, but then get back to primal eating - plenty of well-sourced, good fats and proteins, plenty of low starch vegetables, less than 100 carbs for weight-loss. Loren Cordain (The Paleo Diet) is a bit fat-phobic, but still promotes a higher protein, low carb route. Robb Wolf (The Paleo Solution) runs down the middle of the road, with high protein, low carb, moderate fats. Nora Gedgaudas (Primal Body-Primal Mind) addresses the effects of carbs on the brain, and promotes a lower protein, higher fat, low carb diet. Gary Taubes (Why We Get Fat and Good Calories, Bad Calories) says our bodies work better on a low carb diet based on real food proteins and fats. Art DeVany (The New Evolution Diet) includes more fruit, very lean protein, and, of course, lower carbs. (All interpretations are my own.)

All of these authors have done their homework and are experts in the science behind their claims. The proportions of the fat and protein set aside, all agree that excessive carbohydrates are the culprit behind all of today's "lifestyle" diseases - diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular disease, cancer, and even Alzheimer's disease. Our bodies are meant to operate efficiently on proteins and fats from animals that have also eaten what their bodies are meant to operate on. Our bodies are not evolutionarily designed to eat excessive amounts of carbohydrates based on grains, sugar, and fructose.

I decided to make a weekly menu from each of the sources listed above. As you can see, they are very similar in their recommendations. I thought this might help me plan more for the week, since deviation from primal/paleo eating for me tends to occur when I have to grab something quick or I forget to defrost the meat for dinner. This is not a menu written in stone. Life happens and substitutions can certainly be made. I didn't include chocolate or paleo substitutions in this menu. I might in later versions, but I decided I wanted a bit of a pure version this time around. I'll post a pdf version on the Menu page, but here is Week One:

Breakfast

Monday: (Sisson) Omelet - eggs, cream, 1 slice swiss, 1/2 avocado, salsa. Coffee or tea.

Tuesday: (Wolf) Poached eggs, almonds, small piece fruit or berries.

Wednesday: (Gedgaudas) Sausage, stirfry with vegetables.

Thursday: (DeVany) Omelet, bacon, fruit, coffee or tea.

Friday: (Cordain) Poached eggs, diced apples, shredded carrots, raisins, coffee or tea.

Saturday: (Taubes) Bacon or sausage, eggs, low carb veg.

Sunday: Any breakfast paleo/primal recipe.

Lunch

Monday: (Sisson) Tuna lettuce wrap: 3 lettuce leaves, 1 can tuna, sliced red pepper, tomato, 1/2 avocado, mayo., clementine.

Tuesday: (Wolf) Chicken fajita salad: olive oil, 1/8 cup onions, chicken, cumin, oregano, peppers, lettuce, 1 tomato, 1/2 avocado.

Wednesday: (Gedgaudas) Tuna salad, lettuce, small amount of sliced fruit.

Thursday: (DeVany) Salad of broccoli or cabbage, onions, artichoke hearts, shrimp, 1/2 avocado, olive oil and vinegar.

Friday: (Cordain) Almond chicken salad: chicken, lettuce, red cabbage, almond, dates, olive oil, 1 tbsp. orange juice.

Saturday: (Taubes) Chicken or tuna with salad, bacon, chopped eggs, dressing.

Sunday: Any lunch paleo/primal recipe.

Dinner

Monday: (Sisson) Beef stir fry: 4 oz beef, 2 tbsps olive oil, zucchini, mushrooms, spinach, bamboo shoots, sesame seeds.

Tuesday: (Wolf) Grilled salmon, roasted green beans, side salad.

Wednesday: (Gedgaudas) Burgers, any green vegetable sauteed with butter and sprinkled with nuts.

Thursday: (DeVany) Pork ribs, asparagus, salad, handful of nuts.

Friday: (Cordain) Tomato and avocado, turkey breast, steamed broccoli, blueberries, raisins, almonds.

Saturday: (Taubes) Any meat with 1 cup salad or cooked greens, 1/2 cup of other vegetables.

Sunday: Any dinner paleo/primal recipe.

Great Minds Think Alike

2011-03-03T19:19:00.000-05:00

I checked out my Facebook page tonight and saw a post by Richard Nikoley at Free The Animal. To my surprise, I found a post on pork and sauerkraut - the exact same thing I had planned to write about on my blog this week. I took the picture several days ago, but didn't get around to writing the post until tonight. I hope Richard doesn't think I'm copying his menu. It's just a coincidence, but a funny one. I sometimes think that paleo/primal minds think alike as I often see similar posts for food choices in the same week across the blogosphere. Maybe it is a quirk in the weather or a food that has recently come to market. I don't know why Richard and I had the same thought this week, but I had a quart of recently purchased fermented sauerkraut on hand as well as some pastured pork in the freezer and some locally grown potatoes so this is what I came up with:

Easy dinner: Layer sauerkraut on the bottom of a roasting pan, lay pork chops on top, add peeled potatoes chunks along the sides (omit if you don't eat potatoes), and layer some more sauerkraut on top. Bake in the oven until the chops are done and the potatoes are cooked through. The fat from the chops nicely flavors the kraut and kraut juices flavor the potatoes - a win-win situation.

If you are orthodox paleo, don't read this...

2011-02-22T20:03:00.000-05:00

Tonight I made pizza. The kind with a crust. Chewy inside, crunchy on the edges, hot melted raw milk mozzarella cheese, tomato sauce, good salami, and crispy fresh basil leaves. It was a rare treat and it was good. I eat totally gluten-free so the crust was gluten-free. It was also grain-free and it came from a package (gasp!). It was Chebe brand, made from tapioca. I added romano cheese, 2 eggs, some olive oil, and some raw goat milk. I hand-pressed it onto my pizza stone, and added the sauce, mozzarella, salami, fresh basil. If you are counting, the Chebe mix is 17 g of carbs per serving (makes 10 slices of pizza). I ate two slices so no doubt I went over the limit of what some people think is paleo, but I've never been orthodox about anything and I certainly don't live the life of a deprived paleo monk. Paleo/primal is not a religion.

I think the tapioca is a mostly glucose-based starch. Did I die? No. Did I even feel bad? No. In fact, it was satisfying and delicious. Living an otherwise paleo/primal life allows some leeway from time to time. It's like finding a honeybee hive or a ripe mango tree if you were a paleolithic human hunting and gathering. You know they wouldn't pass that up. Would you pass this up?

Chicken Broth to Soup 1-2-3

2011-02-17T21:12:00.000-05:00

Chicken soup is as easy as 1-2-3.

1. You simmer a chicken carcass (preferably pasture-raised from a reliable source). You simmer that baby until the bones fall apart and get soft which may take several hours (don't forget to keep adding water). You can add some herbs if you like and salt and pepper.

2. Strain the broth. Pick whatever meat might be left from the bones to add to your soup. Look at that good layer of chicken fat on top. You could sip this as is - perfect cure for the common cold.

3. Add what you like. Carrots, simmered onions, spinach, leftover meat, parsley, other herbs, turnips, even (gasp) some potatoes. Salt to taste. It's all good, so good.

Hungry Girl

2011-02-10T19:50:00.000-05:00

I like to watch the Cooking Channel when Jamie Oliver's show is on. I love to watch Jamie cook in his rustic studio kitchen or outdoors in his gardens, concentrating on one ingredient at a time. He loves his pastas to be sure with his Italian cooking training, but he is a master at using fresh, local ingredients. I love Jamie's infatuation with real food and I've eaten in his restaurant named 15 in London. His influence on his apprentice chefs is obvious. The meal my daughter and I had there was amazing from start to finish. We had called ahead and told them we were gluten-free and the waitress already knew exactly which dishes were GF and could answer every question we had about the food. It was outstanding!

I watch David Rocco's show for a different reason. His show is set in Italy. He often ventures into the dreamworld of the Italian countryside with its Agfachrome lighting - amber sunlight flickering over hazy orchards and green expanses. I watch this show for the mood - fresh, local food once again cooked in a rustic style, often al fresco. Both of these shows are soothing to watch and they often give me ideas to use the fresh produce I get from Everyday Local in Lancaster, PA each week. This week, my "bundle" contained Boston lettuce (from a local hydroponic organic grower), cremini mushrooms, three organic potatoes, three amazingly huge bunches of mint, cilantro, and parsley, local organic apples, and something new: celeriac, aka celery root, looking much like a pineapple cut in half lengthwise. I have never cooked celeriac and I love the challenge of a new vegetable (or meat, or fruit, or whatever), but more on that later.

I turned on the TV a bit early tonight and saw a show listed called Hungry Girl. Jamie came on after, so I figured I'd give it a try. Oh. My. God. What a disaster of a show. None of the soothing outdoor scenes of Jamie's gardens or David's Italian countryside. Instead we are treated to a garish kitchen with an orange stove, the word YUMMY spelled out on the wall above in 12 inch letters, and an array of brightly colored appliances spread haphazardly on the countertops. A bit like Rachel Ray gone mad. Then, the food (I use that word very loosely), oh dear. Tonight's theme was chocolate. OK, I thought, you can't go wrong with chocolate. Wrong. You can go so very wrong. Hungry Girl made several recipes and, I kid you not, each one started with a packet of diet cocoa, followed up with some combination of the following ingredients: nonstick cooking spray, marshmallow fluff in a plastic jar, cake mix from a box, non-dairy non-fat whipped cream, icing from a can mixed with vanilla soy milk to make a pourable icing, no-calorie sweetener, and non-fat "eggs" from a carton. She exclaimed over and over again the virtues of these lower calorie, non-fat easy recipes. "Look! It's only 220 calories instead of 600 and no fat!" she cried with glee. Oh. My. God. Again. I told my daughter that this woman couldn't eat more differently from us if she tried. I don't think she ever steps into the outer reaches of a grocery store. She shops the middle aisles exclusively. No wonder she is a hungry girl. I fear for her health - she is young now, but soon the ravages of a diet built on fake foods are bound to set in, poor thing.

Back to soothing. Here is what we had for dinner:

Grass-fed T-bones, so darn tender that they almost melted in your mouth. Just a sprinkle with salt and pepper, a quick broil, and done. We couldn't finish both, so I have one to enjoy for lunch tomorrow. Then, a little celeriac apple soup:

So easy. Chop up half an onion, fry in butter until soft, add peeled, chopped celeriac, add one chopped apple, and gently simmer until soft. Add 2 cups of water and cook until very soft. Blend all until smooth. Add a little salt or even cinnamon if you like. This makes three small servings or two larger ones. So, so good. And I didn't have to open one box or package. In fact, none of these ingredients saw the inside of a store (unless you count the salt).

If wishes were nickels...

2011-02-03T17:16:00.000-05:00

...I'd be rich. Who doesn't spend some time wishing? On one hand, they can be the impetus to pursue bigger and better things. On the other, they can allow you to wallow in regret. I prefer to work on the the former. There isn't much point in wasting time wondering what you could have done. We can't go back, so just move forward and try to do better. That said, here is a list of wishes:

I wish I knew at age 20 what I now know at age 52 about food. Years of migraines, aches and pains, weight gain, and who knows what else because I believed what medical professionals and a government influenced by Big Ag, Big Pharm, and Big Oil told me.
I wish I had known at age 29 what I know now about food, so I could have fed my daughter better. I didn't do too badly - she ate better than most and has a much more adventurous taste than most of her friends when it comes to food.
I wish I could easily transfer my knowledge of what is healthy to others instantly ( kind of like a Vulcan mind meld) because trying to explain why paleo/primal is better over and over again is a lesson in frustration. It took me three years to figure this out after reading, studying, researching. I can't explain what I do and how it has made me healthier in ten minutes to someone else.
I wish I would follow paleo/primal eating better than I do. I NEVER eat gluten, rarely eat legumes, and hardly ever eat processed food and that is half the battle, but there are a lot of things I could do better.
I wish I wasn't so damned addicted to sugar.
I wish I was better at motivating myself to exercise.

So, no sense in wallowing. Which wishes can I make come true?

#1- I can't go back to age 20, but thankfully I do know now what I can and should eat. Migraines have diminished to the point of just minor annoyances once every few months, I hardly ever get colds, my joints are pain-free, and I have lost some weight. So I look forward to even better health in my future and hope that the damage I did for so long can be mostly undone.
#2 - My daughter is healthy and has a great palate. She doesn't eat gluten at all. She loves vegetables and good meats. So, I think I did pretty well. The upshot is that she, at age 22, already knows what is good to eat, so she will be way ahead of me for the rest of her life.
#3 - This blog is my attempt at spreading the news and good recipes about paleo/primal eating. It's a small thing, but just maybe it helps a bit. I will keep explaining, answering questions, lending books in the hopes that it helps someone else, like it helped me.
#4 - Just do it and stop whining about it. If I slip and eat a gluten-free piece of apple pie, so what? Life goes on and I still eat far better now than I did before.
#5 - Actually, I have cut back on sugar a lot. I now drink black coffee and sometimes tea. Most of my sweet intake is in the form of dark chocolate. Do I want total deprivation? Or is that just an excuse to keep eating sugar? Got to think on that a bit.
#6 - I hope to start strength training at a gym that just opened in a home garage literally less than 2 miles from my house. I have 15 acres of land to prowl around on. I have no excuses, except my total hate of cold weather. I have ponies and a horse and a dog that need to move too. Time to stop wishing and get moving.

So, no more wishing. Time to put words into action. I'm going to work on the wishes that I can make into reality. How about you?

Here's a picture of what my daughter made for dinner for us one night this week. I think I did a good job with her after all. Salmon with a thai chili sauce, carrot fries, and yogurt and green pepper sauce. Wishes do come true. ;)

Shepherd's Pie

2011-01-27T19:20:00.002-05:00

We had 12 more inches of snow last night. Wet, dense, power-line-breaking thunder and lightning snow. Luckily, our power held on (200,000 were out in nearby Maryland at one point). After shoveling off the brick patio (20 ft x 8 ft) and the path to the driveway and barn (about 100 ft), a good filling dinner was in order. I had thawed some happy steer ground beef and had some standard vegetables in the fridge, so Shepherd's Pie was on the menu. Maybe I should call it Cowherd's Pie since I used beef, but somehow that does not sound as appetizing. The goal this time was to use as few pans as possible, since Shepherd's Pie can be a bit pan-intensive. Warning: The following pictures may contain some potatoes, dairy, and a smattering of corn (both organic but not technically paleo). Nightshades don't bother me, so potatoes are not a problem and I eat them and corn very rarely, but I have to say that the little bits of corn here and there made the dish. The recipe is on the recipe page. Here's the progression in pictures:

Uh oh, I think those are some gluten-free muffins. Definitely not totally paleo, but they are mostly almond flour. Hide your eyes, paleoistas!

Ready to go in the oven.

Finished product. This was good. Really good. All told, you might get 1/4 potato and about 8 corn kernels per serving if you choose to use them. But, you can EASILY replace the potato with cauliflower and the corn with some other vegetable. I can't help you with the cheese, though you could just leave it off.

Recipe on the recipe page! Enjoy!

Want to read some other food renegade blogs? Food Renegades

Something Old, Something New

2011-01-20T20:18:00.001-05:00

For some reason last week, I was in a mood to try new things and expand on some old favorites.

First, the old:

1. I made my usual frittata which is so simple. Heat some butter in a good skillet or omelet pan, beat up some eggs, and add whatever you want on top. Fry gently until the bottom is solid, then place under the broiler to finish off the top. For this frittata, I added some nitrate-free salami, some fresh goat cheese, and then sprinkled pine nuts on top. The pine nuts were the new part and they really made the dish!

2. Meatloaf! Sometimes you just want one of those comfort foods like meatloaf. I haven’t figured out yet why some people think you need to add a grain to meatloaf. Some add bread crumbs or oatmeal. Neither are needed. I just add an egg to the mixture and whatever flavorings strike my mood. This time I added some fermented ginger shredded carrots, some chopped jalapenos, and the egg to 2 lbs of ground grass-fed beef. On top, I poured some chunky salsa. Bake that in the oven until the inside is done and you have meatloaf all week for dinner, lunches, and/or snacks.

Next, the new:

I have never made duck before but I have enjoyed it every time I have eaten it in a restaurant. I bought a duck breast at Wegman’s this week. I found a great recipe on the web for slow-cooked duck breast which produces a perfectly cooked piece of duck - it really does! Here’s the link to the recipe. Slow-cooked duck breast Follow it exactly and your duck will turn out perfectly medium rare, tender, and so delicious. When the duck was finishing in the oven, I sliced up some sweet potatoes and threw them in with the duck. If you have never had sweet potato fries in duck fat, you are in for a wonderful surprise! Then I put a little of the fat in a frying pan and stir-fried some snow peas quickly. Here’s the result:

Not a bad week, all in all. To top off the week, my husband and I went to John J. Jeffries restaurant in Lancaster, PA for my birthday. John J. Jeffries restaurant They specialize in local, sustainable, properly-raised foods and they have a great chef who comes up with some delicious combinations. I had the duck there as well (twice in one week!). The drinks are quite tasty as well. Life is good.

Two Quick Dinners

2011-01-11T19:17:00.000-05:00

While I had good intentions of starting a "clean" primal/paleo program on January 3rd, the best laid plans "gang aft agley" as Robert Burns might say. So, my friend Kathy and I decided to start anew on Monday, January 10th, a week late. But then again, it's never too late, is it?

I'll be keeping track of my meals (and occasional slips) on the Meals and Menus page. I've upgraded the blog design a bit. The recipe page is a bit of a mess, but my hopes are to eventually have an index of recipe links there which will make it a lot easier to navigate. The background is a picture I took on the Isle of Skye in Scotland, a magical primal place if ever there was one. I love it there and hope to return some day to that land of my ancestors, at least on one side of the family tree.

On my first night of primalness (that sounds a little fun, doesn't it?) I made a lamb coconut Thai-like soup. The recipe is on the recipe page (1/3/11). Tonight, I made broiled grouper with brussel sprouts and bacon, all on one cooking sheet in the oven. Simple and easy to clean up. Who doesn't love bacon? No real recipe for this one, so here is the procedure: Cut bacon into one inch pieces (my bacon is of the happy pig variety), spread pieces onto cookie sheet evenly. Wash and cut fresh brussel sprouts into quarters, spread over top of the bacon, leaving a little room for the fish. I cut the grouper into large chunks, about 4x2x2 inches and placed them on the remaining area of the sheet. Sprinkle the whole tray with salt and pepper and good olive oil. Place in 375 degree oven until the bacon is crisp, the fish is moist and flaky, and the brussel sprouts are tender (amazingly, this all happened at the same time). Try to keep your daughter and husband from snarfing all the bacon. Enjoy!

Roast Beast au Vin

2011-01-04T18:55:00.002-05:00

Yesterday was the first day of the January 30-day challenge (a la Hunter-Gatherer - see sidebar). I made roast beef from my grassfed stash in the freezer, with roasted carrots, onions, and garlic alongside, and topped with homemade guacamole. Quite tasty. We had about half of the roast left, so I took some for lunch today and used up the rest tonight. Before our Christmas break, a friend at school gave me a nice bottle of red wine. I also had a nice batch of porcini mushrooms from Everyday Local in the freezer (I put them there knowing I would not use them before they got mushy - they would be better fresh, but did just fine in this dish). I also had frozen some broccoli from a previous purchase at EL, so I got a package of that out as well.
I thawed the mushrooms part way, gave them a once over to remove debris, sliced them, and simmered them slowly in about two tablespoons of butter. Butter fits fine in my primal world. I don't eat much other dairy (goat cheeses, some raw milk cheeses) but butter is a necessity and doesn't seem to cause any problems for me at least. When the mushrooms had simmered a bit, I added the beef, cut into chunks, then added some thyme and marjoram, and salt and pepper. I opened the bottle of wine and chugged some into the pan and let the whole thing simmer for a while until the sauce reduced. The meat and mushrooms turned deep and dark and glistened in the reduction.

   I steamed the broccoli quickly, but probably overdid it a bit, but it was still quite tasty and offered a nice clean foil for the winey beef. Unless my husband finishes off the rest, there should be enough for leftovers tomorrow. And there was certainly enough wine leftover for a glass tonight. Cheers!
   P.S. My daughter is writing a new blog on music - see the sidebar or this link Space and Progress. I love her writing and hope you do, too.
   P.P.S. This post is part of Food Renegade's Fight Back Fridays. See this link Food Renegade or click on her sidebar link to see Food Renegade's blog.
   Did you link here from Instapundit? Welcome, come in and set a spell. If you are interested in more paleo/primal info, be sure to visit the blogs listed in the sidebar and come back here to visit any time!

Holiday Clean-Up

2010-12-31T14:00:00.000-05:00

It will be time soon to take down the Festivus regalia and get back to a cleaner way of living and eating. The guy over at Hunter-Gatherer is running a primal challenge starting January 3rd. That's a good time to start as it's the first day back to work and the holidays are officially over. Want to join me? Check out the Hunter-Gatherer link and several others on the sidebar as the primal/paleo community moves into 2011. Give it 30 days and I can guarantee you will feel and look better. I do not get money or anything else from any of these sites but I highly recommend them because they contain great information for free. This is probably the most intelligent community of people on the internet who actually look at the science behind what they are saying and do not take anyone else's word for it, including the government or the medical community who are clueless when it comes to nutrition.

Here's Mark Sisson's Primal Blueprint Food Pyramid to get you started (see MarksDailyApple on the sidebar for tons of great free information):

Guest Post from My Daughter - Carrot Latkes

2010-12-29T09:53:00.001-05:00

I asked my daughter, Caroline, to write a guest post this week. When she was an undergrad, she often attended Shabbat with her friends. Although we are not Jewish (or anything else for that matter), Caroline loved the foods, camraderie, and traditions of Shabbat. Although we have not found an acceptable gluten-free version of Challah, at least these latkes (very primal, by the way) bring back some of those good memories. They are very good and thanks go to Elana's Pantry (see link below) for the recipe. Here's Caroline's post:

As a law student, my life alternates between very busy and very boring during the course of the semester. Reading days before finals invariably fall into the “boring” category, so this semester I challenged myself to do some cooking each day when I was at home studying. During that time, my mom sent me this recipe for carrot latkes and they turned out pretty tasty, so I made them again for my family this week. As much as I love Christmas cookies (and really, I love Christmas cookies), these were a nice, crisp change of pace. They’re really easy to make and handle reheating pretty well, so I’d recommend making a big batch and saving some for snacks later in the week. (We ate all of ours right up, though).

As a side note, I started with some great fresh carrots my mom picked up this week from Everyday Local. I love carrots in almost everything; pan roasted with salt and pepper, shaved onto sandwiches for some added crunch, pickled with ginger, and especially as soup (a holdover from a semester spent in England, where carrot soup is a winter staple). This bunch was particularly nice because it was so fresh, but if you have really fresh carrots I’d suggest blotting the grated carrots for the latke recipe gently with a paper towel before mixing them with the other ingredients. It helps keep the batter from getting too watery.

Traditional potato latkes are usually served with sour cream or yogurt and apple sauce, and these are delicious with those toppings as well. When I’m making this recipe, I always think of my college roommate’s grandfather, Bukkah, singing the song Mrs. Maccabeus: Bukkah's Song

Carrot Latkes

(Adapted from Elana’s Pantry http://www.elanaspantry.com/ )

3 cups shredded carrots (make sure to grate them finely, a rougher chop makes the batter less cohesive)

3 scallions, finely chopped (I like the stronger flavor of onions sometimes, so I substitute them here)

3 eggs, whisked

1/4 teaspoon celtic sea salt

1/2 teaspoon coconut flour (you can add slightly more if the batter seems a little watery)

coconut oil for frying

1. In a large bowl combine carrots, scallions and eggs

2. Stir salt and coconut flour into carrot mixture

3. In a large skillet heat oil

4. Scoop large tablespoonfuls of batter onto skillet. Pat them down if you’d like a crispier latke, leave them rounder if you’d like a softer inside.

5. Fry patties on each side over medium heat until browned and crispy

6. Transfer latkes to a paper towel lined plate

7. Repeat process until all of the batter is used up

8. Serve with applesauce and sour cream or yogurt

Festivus and Primal Chili

2010-12-21T19:11:00.000-05:00

Our science department of 14 teachers likes to celebrate our Christmas break with a little Feast for Festivus. Everyone brings a dish and gluttony ensues. The only problem is that about half of us eat a mixture of gluten-free, paleo, and low carb, while the other half pretty much survives on subs, pizza, sugar, stuff in cans or frozen boxes, and coffee. But we manage to put together a decent feast that meets all needs. A few years ago, this was a full week of gluttony, but we have pared it down to one day to avoid gaining 5 lbs before Christmas break. The menu tomorrow:
Chili - from yours truly - pic below (all grass-fed beef, no beans)
Guacomole
Taco Dip (I smell a tex-mex theme developing)
Gluten-free dessert
Non-gluten free pie
Veggies and dip
A breakfast egg casserole (gluten and mostly carb-free)
Juice and soda (I'm going for water myself)
A green bean casserole (not exactly tex-mex but it is a tradition from Russ - luckily it contains gluten so I will not be partaking)
Spanish rice
Cheese
Not too shabby and it will fit the needs of just about everyone in some way or another. The trick will be to separate the gluten-free from the gluten stuff, so we don't contaminate the GF food. Some people just don't get that part. The trick is to get the GF stuff early before the knife used to cut the pie is used to cut the GF dessert. Sigh. I'll be having my chili, some guac if it's safe, some veggies, some egg casserole, and maybe a piece of GF dessert. It is Festivus after all.

The recipe for the chili is ridiculously easy. Chop and lightly fry some onions, peppers (hot and/or mild), and garlic in butter, lard, or olive oil. Add ground beef and brown lightly. Add chili powder to taste. Add some cilantro if you want. Stir in canned crushed tomatoes (unless it is summer, then use fresh). Salt to taste, add more chile powder or hot peppers if you like it more spicy. Cook until bubbly and slightly thickened. If you eat dairy, grate some cheese on top or add some sour cream. That's it. It will taste even better tomorrow.

Heading Toward Winter Solstice

2010-12-16T16:21:00.001-05:00

This time of year is an odd mix of ups and downs. You can't help but get caught up in the excitement of the season, but then a blast of cold air zips down from the north and forces its way under your winter coat and you start to dream of Spring or at least a warm island somewhere. We got our first snow of the year and hopefully last, after 2009-2010's repeated blizzards and 78 inches of snow. Just really a dusting this time but enough to snarl traffic everywhere since the roads were extremely cold from the frigid temperatures of the last week and nothing melted. It's funny how Marylanders and Pennsylvanians absolutely panic at the first light dusting of the winter, yet later, as we get used to the stuff, we do just fine.

At any rate, sometimes I just don't feel like making a big production of a meal. Last night, for example, I picked up a roast chicken at the local grocery store and microwaved some sweet potatoes. I slathered the sweet potato in goat butter, tore off a thigh, leg, and wing, and I was good to go. My husband got home a bit later and made himself some chicken sandwiches (he still does the gluten thing) and had the other bit of sweet potato.

The other night, I made another easy meal. This time I took some grass-fed ground beef, chopped up some jalapeno peppers, mixed the two together and made spicy burgers. I roasted some cauliflower (if you have never done that, you have to try it). Just cut up some cauliflower, coat the pieces with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper and roast until lightly browned. Delicious. Sometimes amongst all the hustle and bustle, it is just easier to go the simple route. I'm looking forward to the longer days after the solstice and the inevitable move toward the other celestial landmark, the spring equinox. It's no coincidence they align with Christmas and Easter and other major religious holidays. No wonder our ancestors celebrated these two times of year.

Spicy Cauliflower Soup for a Blustery Day

2010-12-05T14:57:00.000-05:00

Yup, December has arrived. It's the type of cold, blustery day that promises occasional squalls of snow flurries. The wind finds every little opening in your clothes. It makes the dog very happy to get back inside after a run through the yard. In the last post, I spoke of the bundle of fresh vegetables from Everyday Local. Fresh vegetables are wonderful, but you do have to use them fairly quickly or freeze them before they start to turn. In the bundle, I got a very lovely head of creamy white cauliflower. The only problem is that I am the only one in my household who likes cauliflower. I do hide it occasionally in things like mashed potatoes but unless it is disguised, no one else will eat it but me. Even though I love the stuff, I cannot handle an entire head of it by myself.

I started my recipe search for broccoli soup, since I have an equally beautiful head of broccoli to use. However, as I was searching through Alice Water's The Art of Simple Food cookbook, I spotted a recipe for Spicy Cauliflower Soup. As usual, I changed things up a bit, but the result was a delicious, creamy, spicy soup. My husband didn't see it cooking. When it was finished and well-blended, he came in from the blustery day for lunch.

"What kind of soup is this?" he asks.

"Try it and see" I say.

He takes a spoonful. "Hmmm, pumpkin?"

"Nope, cauliflower."

He looks at me with surprise and a harrumph and proceeds to eat an entire bowl. Success! It really is good and tastes a bit like pumpkin without the sweetness or potato without the starchiness. Now to find a recipe for broccoli. Recipe is on the recipe page!

Everyday Local Food

2010-12-02T16:53:00.001-05:00

I wrote about a restaurant named John J. Jeffries a while back. It is located in Lancaster, PA and specializes in great local organic fresh food. They are also quite active in the local food culture in Lancaster and regularly post on Facebook. Several months ago, they posted about a local organic food cooperative named Everyday Local Food (aka Lancaster Organics). Lancaster Organics Lancaster is a cool community with an eclectic mix of arts, college-town, Amish farmers, a large latino community, excellent restaurants, and city-life. I wish it was closer but the drive to experience its charms is worth it.

Everyday Local Food offers weekly seasonal food "bundles." As is usually the case with me, it took me quite a while to actually respond to the weekly blog post about that week's bundle. Lancaster is about 55 minutes away and I had to weigh the cost in time and gas against what I might get in return. I decided to take the plunge, ordered two bundles, some cheeses, and some fermented carrots and kimchi, and rode up to Lancaster on our first really cold evening to pick them up. The pickup is at a lovely old home in Lancaster city. I knew I had the right house when I saw multiple bags with green leaves peaking out the tops on the porch. I paid for my loot without checking out the bags. It was getting dark by that time and I wanted to get home to feed ponies, dog, cats, and get the chickens locked up tight in the henhouse for the night.

What a lovely surprise when I finally got home to see what was in the bag: a bright green head of broccoli, a creamy white head of cauliflower, 5 beets with those aforementioned peaking greens attached, a container of greenhouse-raised grape tomatoes, and a large bag of arugula so fresh the stems cracked when you bent them. Everything was crispy fresh and organic.

By the time critter feeding was done, I was starving. I beat four of my chickens' eggs, cut up some cheddar cheese and opened the chevre cheese container, cut up a few of the tomatoes, grabbed and rinsed a bit of arugula, dabbed some butter into the pan, and voila! A frittata was born.

This picture is pre-broiler - just enough to warm the goat cheese. The arugula gave off a lovely scent as it steamed just a tad. The first bite was a bite of freshness - spicy arugula, the sweetest tomato burst I have ever tasted in December, fresh eggs, creamy cheese, sharp cheddar. Gawd! It's making me hungry just thinking about it again. Tonight, I am roasting a pork roast (from the happy pig), along with the beets, and then stir-frying the beet greens with a little garlic. I think I am going to like these bundles :) I have a feeling I will be buying several bundles at a time for friends - good, they can give me some gas money!

Thanksgiving

2010-11-25T13:38:00.004-05:00

Following the 80/20 (maybe 60/40) rule via Mark Sisson's Primal Blueprint for this one. I'll have to post pictures of leftovers later because I didn't take any of the initial feast. Too busy cooking then eating...

Pasture-raised fresh turkey
Brussel sprouts with bacon (from happy pig)
Sauerkraut (a Baltimore area classic side dish for T-Day)
Butternut squash, mashed with butter
Mashed potatoes and cauliflower casserole with parmesan cheese
Turkey gravy (made with arrowroot)
Stuffing made with gluten-free Udi's GF bread
Pumpkin pie (almond flour crust)
Cranberry sauce (the canned kind - we like it)
Caroline's Thanksgiving drink - cranberry juice, cider, and Cava

Plenty of leftovers for primal feasting. The Cava, stuffing, and gravy is gone. The trick is to not make too much stuffing and other non-primal foods so that this becomes a one-time deal. Happy T-day!

Breakfast for Dinner

2010-11-17T19:11:00.000-05:00

Sometimes you just don't feel like cooking a huge complicated meal for dinner. I like to cook, but there are times when I want to eat quickly without much fuss. And, I like breakfast. Here in rural Pennsylvania, there are several family restaurants that fill up each morning with oldtimers who meet there to have full breakfasts and chew the fat. For under $5, you can get two eggs, several pieces of bacon, ham, or sausage, homefried or hash brown potatoes, coffee, and toast (if you are not paleo/primal) and a touch of old time ambience thrown in. When my daughter is home from grad school, she and I go out for breakfast to one of these places with names like the Taylor Haus, the Mason-Dixon, and the New Freedom Family Restaurant. A typical order for me is "number 3, no toast, over medium, crispy bacon." I usually go ahead and get the potatoes since it is a infrequent thing. It's good, it's fast, it's nostalgic. For many years before my father died, my daughter and I spend most Sunday mornings meeting him at one of these spots and enjoying breakfast which was his favorite meal as well.

But breakfast doesn't have to be a morning affair. I like to cook breakfast for dinner sometimes as well. Tonight, I am having a frittata with some herbed goat cheese and some leftover vegetables. A side of bacon (from my pastured happy pig purchase) completes the experience. A hot cup of Earl Grey tea on the side. I'll forego the potatoes - who needs 'em? No recipes necessary - pop the bacon in the oven for less mess, whisk some eggs with a tiny bit of water, heat some lard, gently cook the eggs, add some cheese and whatever leftover veggies suit you. Pop it in the oven with the bacon. That's the ticket. Enjoy.

Pile o'bacon and frittata.

The Absolute Best Potato-Leek Soup - Oh no, is it paleo?

2010-11-09T18:37:00.000-05:00

No, it's not paleo. Unless you were a starving paleolithic man or woman who happened to find an odd little tuber growing under ground and decided to give it a try. Lucky for me, my ancestors seemed to have adapted somewhere along the line to eating nightshades of all kinds. I can eat eggplant, peppers, tomatoes, and even potatoes without any effect. I know, I know, the potatoes are full of polysaccharides of glucose-y starch. But you know what? I have completely given up gluten in my life (going on three years of gluten freedom, said like an alcoholic reciting how many years, months, days it has been since my last "drink"). I have eliminated most sugary foods. I actually prefer coffee with just almond milk now, no sugar. I prefer dark chocolate over any other (to be fair, I always did). So, if I want to indulge in a little potato goodness once in a very rare while, I think my insulin regulators will be able to handle the occasional influx of glucose overload.

Even so, my potato consumption is limited. I've had potatoes around long enough to sprout long tendrils of new growth and I've even saved them long enough to plant in the spring. About two months ago, I bought a small bag of very small red potatoes locally grown. The bag had maybe 15 tiny potatoes in it. I used 8 of them tonight in the soup. I ate about 1/3 of the pot, so I figure I had about 5 golfball sized potatoes, skin removed, and boiled until soft. I'll survive (and quite happily, thank you). The only other time I indulge in my potato habit is when I go to Five Guys. Come on, I'm already forgoing the bun, so I share a serving of fresh cut fries with my husband and daughter and call it a day.

What's nice about this occasional indulgence is that somehow the potato tastes even that much better. If you have never had a locally grown heirloom breed of a potato, well, you just haven't had a potato. It's very much like comparing grocery store tomatoes to those picked ripe from the vine, ripened in the sun to a sweet, tart, tangy goodness like no other.

So that brings me to today's recipe post. As usual, I decide on what to cook for dinner by rummaging around the kitchen and fridge seeing what's available. Tonight, I found the eight potatoes, just starting to send out hopeful sprouts. I found about a 1/2 cup of leftover steamed spinach and one large leek in the veggie bin. I had pork chops out on the counter thawing (more about those in a minute). The recipe for the soup is on the recipe page, but can I just tell you that this was possibly the best potato-leek soup I have ever had? Seriously, hands down. Check out the pic - the recipe will explain the emerald green color. The key to not overindulging? Make a small batch, so you don't feel the need to eat potato soup for the rest of the week. This recipe makes about 2 - 3 regular servings. If you feel too stressed about eating potatoes, just substitute turnips.

To counter the carb-ful soup, I made pork chops. Not just any pork chops, but chops from the pastured happy pig we just bought and split with a friend of ours. These are not your tasteless, dry, hard store-bought chops. Oh no, these babies are unbelievably moist with fat that is not tough, but melts in your mouth and forms crispy edges under the broiler. And that is all I had to do - I placed the chops in a shallow pan and put them under a broiler, flipping once through the process. I sprinkled them with a bit of sea salt and that was it. I almost couldn't believe how good they tasted. I thought the dog was going to die of apoplexy over the smell. He got the bone. Lucky dog.

I think the pic is upside down. Sorry about that!
Check out the recipe page for the soup!

Caroline's Stuffed Acorn Squash

2010-11-03T17:12:00.002-04:00

My daughter loves real food, but the life of a first year law student doesn't always allow her to make elaborate meals. She'll swear she can't cook very well, but having grown up with a grandmother and a mother who love to cook, she picked up a thing or two and can create some delicious dishes when she puts her mind to it. She emailed me a picture of her latest creation today and I told her I thought it would be great for my blog, so she sent the recipe as well. I might just make this for dinner tonight. I think you could substitute several meats here - chicken, other sausages, etc. But I think her choice of andouille is perfect! Here it is:

1 medium acorn squash
2 apples, unpeeled, diced
1/2 medium onion, minced

1 andouille sausage, diced
2 tsp. melted butter
1 tbsp. water
Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut squash in half and remove the seeds. Place cut side down on an oiled baking sheet. Combine apples, sausage, and onion. Add butter and water. Put in small baking dish and cover. Bake squash and apple stuffing for 45 minutes or until tender. Salt squash. Fill with stuffing.

She adds, "I added mimolette cheese to the top of my stuffed squash and baked it for another minute until the cheese melted, but that might not be primal enough. :P"

BokChoy, Cabbage, and Apple Hash (and Cornbread - gasp)

2010-10-25T18:33:00.001-04:00

The leaves are finally turning here in southern Pennsylvania, yet the temperatures have been hovering in the 70s this week. It's an odd combination of Fall edging in and Summer not quite willing to let go. But my food tastes are making the transition as well and this dish is a wonderful combination of summer and fall. I had half of a head of purple cabbage needing a dish, some bright green bok choy, and apples from the local orchard. I chopped the cabbage into strips, chopped the apples into chunks, and sliced the bok choy. The result? Here's a picture of the dish just started.

Add a few spices (cinnamon and fennel seeds) and you are good to go! My local store is now serving rotisserie turkey breast so I chanced the horrors of non-pastured turkey (look, most of my meat - beef, chicken, pork - is grass-fed or pastured, so the occasional foray into the non-pastured area is rare). I also made some jalapeno cornbread from coconut flour and some masa corn flour and some raw buttermilk. Not totally primal, but since my grain consumption is nearly nil, again, a tiny splurge was worth it. Probably equivalent to the occasional corn tortilla and at least it was masa, which is limed. The limewater adds calcium and releases niacin from the corn which hopefully, mitigates some of the grain toxins.

Both recipes and final pictures are on the recipe page!

Just a Little Rant

2010-10-14T17:51:00.000-04:00

   It seems that wherever I go these days, the vegetarian/vegan agenda is being shoved down my throat. Whether it is the prominent display of vegan books at the local bookstore (placed there by the anemic-looking emo stock boy, no doubt) or the promotion of the vegan lifestyle at Whole Paycheck (inspired by its equally anemic-looking owner and his love of the misleading China Study), the vegan agenda is relentless. Even the mega-coffee shop is introducing more and more vegan alternatives. In the meantime, they removed my favorite gluten-free (pre-paleo) Orange Valencia Cake. I'd be happy if they offered some grass-fed beef jerky.
   I frequent a lot of paleo/primal websites and forums. Look at the list on the right. It is full of paleo/primal information, written by people who range from athletic trainers to doctors to biochemists to philosophers to the everyday folk like me. Almost every one of those sites seeks to ferret out the truth about the best diet for our health. There is more science on those sites than you will find in all of the government-based diet recommendations together.
   Obviously, the diet that has been proposed by our government in its latest 2010 guidelines which encourage more of the same grain-based (or should I say agricultural-lobby-influenced) way of eating will only result in the continued onslaught of obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and cancer deaths on our population. As a biology and anatomy/physiology teacher, I have done my research as well. Read this: 2010 Food Guidelines Takedown. I am truly convinced that a diet based on our evolutionary roots is the way we are supposed to be eating. We are a young species in relation to Earth's history. Our brains developed in response to the ability to eat, digest, and utilize the unique amino acids and other components of animals that are raised in their natural environments. We have not had enough time (and perhaps never will) to adapt to junk food, i.e. processed, grain-based, sugary pseudo-foods. We certainly don't want to evolve backwards, returning to a vegetarian, fruitarian, brain-size decreasing diet. Yet, the government, influenced by lobbyists is pushing us to an increasing vegetarian lifestyle. One has to question why when the evidence available indicates this is not in our best interest.
   Having said all of that, I also don't care what vegetarian/vegans eat. Let them suffer from nutritional deficiencies if that is what they prefer. If they can live well on that diet, fine, but leave me alone. I like meat. I buy properly, humanely raised meat. I know where my meat comes from and who raised it. I buy raw milk and cheese and butter from local farmers. I support local vegetable and fruit growers to supplement what I cannot raise in my own organic gardens. I support businesses like Tropical Traditions and Honeyville that supply excellent products like coconut oil and almond flour at a decent price.
   So where is all of this annoyance at veggers coming from? If you check out Denise Minger's website in the side bar (RawFoodSOS), she takes on the China Study and thoroughly debunks much of the data that supports a vegetarian diet. In fact, most of what she has found supports a paleo/primal diet, but we knew that, didn't we? The veggers have decided to attack. They apparently feel threatened, much as they did when Lierre Keith published her book, The Vegetarian Myth, and pied the woman (who has severe spinal damage from years of malnutrition from a vegan diet) in the face with pies laced with pepper. They have mounted a "campaign" to frequent paleo/primal forums and post nearly unintelligible diatribes against meat-eaters. It is actually kind of insane.
   On Richard Nikoley's site, Free the Animal, (see the sidebar again) and on Minger's site, they have been quite active. They literally accused Ms. Minger of actually being a cartel of meat-eaters working to bring down their vegger kingdom. This kind of behavior only makes me more certain that a meat-eating diet is the proper one. Apparently, the vegan diet causes brain damage based on the incoherent nonsense they post.

I posted this mini-rant on Richard's site in response to the vegan campaign: "Factory farming of animals is reprehensible from the abuse perpetrated on the animals to the meat tainted by hormones, antibiotics, and the animal’s own chemical makeup influenced by stressful conditions which we are left to eat. So, instead, veggers turn to an equally reprehensible alternative, factory farming, where genetically altered crap crops are produced that eventually turn the land on which they are planted into wastelands stripped of nutrients and minerals and salinized to the point of barrenness. Megalithic corporations hold the farmers that are left, hostage to GMO seeds that produce tasteless varieties devoid of nutrition, or worse, sell us by-products of corn and other grains that kill us. Oh, and of course, there is that little addition of using mega-tons of petroleum products to bring that junk to market. If vegans/vegetarians were really compassionate to the entire Earth, they would insist on eating animals raised in proper conditions that would return nutrition to the earth and rail against the millions of acres wasted on production of crap crops... And lest anyone misunderstand, I don’t blame those megalithic corporations at all for doing what they do. We are the idiots that allow them to prosper by not using the brains that meat gave us to think for ourselves.

That's my future motto and I'm sticking to it.

A Few of My Favorite Things: Tropical Traditions Gold Label Virgin Coconut Oil

2010-10-10T13:33:00.006-04:00

This is one of my favorite products:

Tropical Traditions Gold Label Virgin Coconut Oil

This is probably the most versatile product in my house. I buy it directly from Tropical Traditions (see link below) online. While it may seem pricey at first glance, it is cheaper than coconut oils available in grocery stores and I like the fact that it is packaged in glass rather than plastic containers.

I use this oil for several things. If you have ever read any of my recipes on the recipe page, you will notice coconut oil plays a prominent part in many of them. It is a wonderful oil for cooking! Unlike olive oil, it has a very high smoking point and will not burn under most cooking conditions. Meat browns nicely in it. There might be a very slight coconut taste imparted to the food, but I find that appealing and I think it adds to most dishes. Contrary to conventional myth, saturated fats are not harmful to health (see this link: AJCN article ). Unlike unsaturated fats, saturated fats do not go rancid. This oil keeps nicely on the shelf for long periods and stays as fresh as the day you stored it there. One disconcerting characteristic if you are not familiar with coconut oil is that the oil will be white and solid at most room temperatures but may suddenly become clear liquid if the temperatures rise a bit (usually around 75 degrees or so). It is fine either way. To use in baking goods, you may have to heat the oil slightly to liquefy it. That is easily done in the microwave or even by placing the open container in hot water from the tap. Baked goods will take on a slight coconutty flavor which only enhances the result.

Cooking with this oil is just the beginning. I also keep a container of this oil in the bathroom. It is absolutely, hands-down, the best moisturizer for dry skin! Just a small amount rubbed into the skin will take away any dryness without leaving a greasy feeling behind. A small pea-sized amount rubbed into the fingers and lightly brushed through the ends of your hair will keep your hair soft, supple, and shiny.

One final note: This company is a dream to deal with over the internet. Orders are filled promptly and the products are packaged carefully to prevent breakage. They often run internet specials and promotions, sometimes even two-for-one deals! If you click on this link Tropical Traditions and place an order, you can also receive a free coconut oil book on your first order and I will get a coupon if you click "Referred by a friend" in the How Did You Hear of Us? section and enter my ID # 5805019 (for which I thank you!).

I don't review products often on this blog and I would only review a product if I thought it was wonderful. That being said, it is only fair I post this: Disclaimer: Tropical Traditions provided me with a free sample of this product to review, and I was under no obligation to review it if I so chose. Nor was I under any obligation to write a positive review in return for the free product. There, that meets the FTC requirements. Note: I could also not make any health claims about this product without the FDA and FTC threatening to "act against me." Lovely. In the meantime, our government agencies are still recommending you eat huge amount of grains and buy industrial eggs and then spend their time raiding small farmers who dare to sell raw milk to people. Gotta love our government these days. But that is another blog post...

Check my recipe page for my favorite coconut oil recipe --- almond flour scones (8/23/10).

Happy Pig Sausage and Peppers

2010-10-06T20:35:00.001-04:00

Sometimes the tastiest dishes are the simplest. We picked up our "happy pig" pork from the butcher this week. A local farmer raises pigs and cattle the way they are supposed to be raised. We have been buying our split-sides of grass-fed beef from him for several years now. It is always delicious. I found out that he also raises pastured pork and we bought a whole pig and split it with some friends. They had just watched Food, Inc. and wanted to know if it was a "happy pig." Most decidedly so.

I decided to try out the italian sausage first. It is made of pork, sage, pepper, and salt. That's it. Boil about a 3/4 of an inch of water in a frying pan. Place the sausage in the water and let the water boil off. As it boils, some of the fat in the sausage will melt into the pan and the sausage will begin to fry. Cut up several peppers (I used red peppers from my garden) and onions and let them fry gently in the lard from the sausage:

As the sausage browns, the peppers and onions begin to caramelize. Let them. Those crunchy brown bits are better than dessert! While the sausage is simmering, steam some greens. I steamed kale and beet greens together. Top those with butter. Result:

I had two helpings. Happy pig indeed.

Vegetable Ragu Soup with Cheese

2010-09-29T19:06:00.001-04:00

Some of my recipes are born of necessity. I had two zucchini, five tomatoes, a couple cloves of garlic, and an eggplant pining away on the kitchen counter, wondering when I was going to use them. In the refrigerator, I had celery, a small roll of peppered goat cheese and some balls of mozzarella wondering the same thing. And on the shelf, I had a jar of roasted peppers bought off the bargain counter at the grocery store, with an expiration date fast approaching.

I have been reading Robb Wolf's The Paleo Solution this week and have been following the recommended 30-day menu plan. I haven't followed it 100%, since my time and available food hasn't always allowed, but when I have made substitutions, they are paleo/primal choices. For Wednesday, he recommended pork loin, tomato sauce, zucchini, chopped cauliflower, and basil, cooked long and slow in the crock pot. It just happened that I had made roast pork loin on Sunday and had half of the loin left. I had ingredients close to the original recipe. My husband hates cauliflower, but I had some nice white sweet potatoes, so...vegetable ragu soup with cheese was born! It was actually very good - cheesy, warm, nice mix of flavors. The recipe is on the recipe page. If you want to go completely primal (I eat some dairy), then you could substitute coconut milk and get a slightly different but just as tasty dish.

And just because I think it was cool and appropriate to the changeover to Fall, here is a picture of the Great Pumpkin at my local farm market - 734 lbs!

Summer's Not Over Yet! Grilled Shrimp, Peaches, and Bok Choy

2010-09-23T19:50:00.001-04:00

SImple and easy! On the last day of summer, I decided to give the grill a go. Not that it won't be used again during the autumn and winter, but I wanted one last summer meal fresh from the grill. I marinated shrimp on skewers three different ways - salsa, pesto, and wasabi mayonnaise. The bok choy was sliced in half and drizzled with olive oil, salt and pepper. The last of the summer peaches were cut in half and grilled au natural. Easy. First pic - grill in progress:

Next - the finished project:

The wasabi shrimp won hands down. And for a final taste of summer - the impatiens giving it their boisterous all before the first frosts hit:

How About a Bit of Halibut?

2010-09-14T09:46:00.001-04:00

Sorry for the pun, just couldn't resist. I went to Wegman's on Sunday. One thing Wegman's does really well is fresh fish. They had whole fish laying on ice with the clearest eyes I've ever seen in fish not on the end of a hook. They were making filets from wild caught halibut and I decided to drop the $20 to buy a pound. It was beautiful. No fishy smell and a wonderful slight pink-white flesh that literally shouted fresh. On Monday, I unwrapped this package of goodness for dinner. I had also bought some fresh salad greens and baby spinach at a local farmer's market, so I decided to try out the Primal Blueprint Cookbook's Cream of Greens Soup. While the soup did its final simmer, I fried the fish in goat butter. When it was finished, I made a lemon butter sauce from the browned bits left in the pan. Delicious! Want some pics? The recipes are on the recipe page!

The Primal Blueprint 30-Day Challenge and Peach Clafouti

2010-09-09T11:54:00.001-04:00

I started the Primal Blueprint 30-day Challenge this week. To be honest, I started a little earlier than 9/7/10 because I bought the Primal Leap kit and have been doing well. So far so good. Thanks to Mark Sisson for providing immense amounts of free primal/paleo information and encouragement on his site. I highly recommend buying the Primal Blueprint and the Primal Blueprint Cookbook. Both are great resources and I've yet to find a bad recipe in the book. Here is the link to the Challenge and Sisson's site - marksdailyapple: Primal Blueprint - MarksDailyApple

One of the recipes in Sisson's Primal Blueprint Cookbook is Peach Clafouti. Sometimes people think that following a primal lifestyle means giving up everything but meat and non-starchy vegetables. However the primal eating lifestyle is really about eating fresh unprocessed foods, free of grains, legumes, and large amounts of carbohydrates, and concentrating on good protein and fat sources. Peach Clafouti, from the PB Cookbook, is a good example. There is a minimal bit of maple syrup in the recipe to provide just enough sweetness. While I would not want to make it a daily part of my menu, an occasional treat is what Grok would do if he found a honey cache or a bush full of berries. I made the batter from almond milk, heavy cream, almond flour, and my own eggs. (The recipe called for whole milk instead of almond milk). I won't give the full recipe here since this is borrowed from Mark's book, but just let me say that you will not be disappointed in the golden-colored, light as air crust surrounding sweet bubbling peaches as you remove it from the oven. Suffice it to say, the taste matches the appearance. Slightly sweet, warm, satisfying goodness. Oh my. Should have taken the picture before eating a portion, but it was just too good. Too bad the summer peaches will soon be gone, but I think berries would be just as good in this recipe.

Bacon Caprese Salad and Fried Patty Pan Squash

2010-08-30T19:46:00.000-04:00

Summer is quickly winding down, but tomatoes and squash are still plentiful. This summer has been hard on my vegetable garden. Extreme heat and humidity most of the summer stunted production. At other times, drought lasted several weeks at a pop. Only the hardy survived but even so, the fruit of the vines was sweet and far better than any store-bought varieties.

After a brief respite from the heat last week, we are back to temperatures in the 90s. At least it is fairly dry - as dry as the mid-Atlantic area gets in August. I ventured out to the garden this afternoon and picked basil, some nice little red tomatoes, and a couple of patty pan squash. I had a pack of sugar-free bacon in the fridge, some mozzarella, and some balsamic vinegar - just the ingredients I needed to build a Caprese Salad. Everything is better with bacon, so why not add that to the recipe?

Fry the sliced pattypan in the bacon grease, add a little salt and pepper, and voila! It's easy to build the salad. Make the bacon, slice the tomatoes and mozzarella, and chop the basil. Reduce some balsamic vinegar in a saucepan to concentrate the flavor. Stack the bacon, mozzarella, tomato, basil. Place some squash on the side. Drizzle with balsamic. Done! Enjoy!

Sausage Cabbage Stirfry (80%) and Almond Flour Chocolate Chip Scones (the other 20%)

2010-08-23T19:10:00.000-04:00

Followers of Mark Sisson's Primal Blueprint will recognize the 80/20 reference above. Mark says that if you can manage to stick to primal eating 80% of the time, you can afford an occasional foray into non-primal territory (the other 20%). To celebrate this reality-based way of thinking, I've added two recipes to my blog this week. The first is completely primal: Sausage Cabbage Stirfry. The other ventures into non-primal land just a little bit: Almond Flour Chocolate Chip Scones. The scone recipe is loosely based on one from Elana Amsterdam's "The Gluten-Free Almond Flour Cookbook", but I found that using different ingredients makes it much closer to primal and that the extra agave sweetener is not needed at all. By the way, her cookbook is excellent for those that are starting a gluten-free lifestyle and her recipes are delicious! Both recipes are on the recipe page and there are some pictures to whet your appetite below. Enjoy!

Masitas de Puerco - Cuban Pork

2010-08-16T19:19:00.001-04:00

In the suburbs of Washington, D.C. in a little town called Burtonsville, there exists a little Cuban restaurant called Cuba de Ayer. It's located in a little strip shopping center, tucked behind a little liquor store, and you have to find your way to the little parking area out back. But the flavors in the food are big, bold, and delicious and easily adapted to a paleo diet. Meat, meat, and more meat! Chicken, pork, beef, ham in a variety of Cuban dishes. Yes, they all come with rice and beans, but I just ask to leave those off. I do indulge in the tostones (fried plantains) which are lovely starchy rounds of crunchiness and perhaps a mojito. But this post is not really about the restaurant. It is about my latest meal there which is the title of this post - Masitas de Puerco - and my effort to reproduce that amazing dish at home.

The chunks of pork are marinated in garlic, onion, orange and lime juice (or sour orange), olive oil, cumin, oregano, and salt. Marinate several hours or even overnight. Then place the pork in some water and olive oil, until the water boils away. Brown the meat in the remaining oil until it becomes crispy brown on the outside (do not overcook). Add onion slices, saute quickly. Serve with plantains (tostones). The recipe amounts are on the recipe page.

The meat is tender enough to break apart with a fork, tender and moist inside, crispy brown on the outside. What is not to love? Masita means cookie or biscuit. I have no idea why these are called cookies, except maybe the little portions of meat resemble them? Not important really - they are just good and that's enough for me. Want to see some pics? Here they are!

The first picture is of the pork after marinating for several hours.

Next up, the meat is simmered first, then fried until crispy. Word of warning: don't overdo this part or you will get dry chunks of meat. This is a bit blurry from the steam...

Here's the final result with a little side salad of fresh greens, my own tomatoes, local cucumbers, and avocado.

Oh, and two more. There was quite a bit of fat on this piece of pork and, while I love pork fat, it was a bit more than I wanted. I fried up the bits of fat in a pan to make treats for the dog. I have to admit I ate several and my husband came in from outside a bit later and ate a few more. The dog did get a few in the end.

Finally, what else to have with cuban pork than a mojito? My daughter has become quite the bartender (if law school doesn't work out, I guess she has a backup). Aren't these pretty? She had to substitute tequila instead of rum because we don't keep a very well-stocked liquor cabinet, but these were good!

Recipe for pork on the recipe page!

Cafe on 26 - Vacation Eats at Bethany Beach

2010-08-01T18:50:00.001-04:00

We spent a week at the beach last week in Bethany Beach and Fenwick Island, Delaware. These are typical beach towns with tons of family eateries, most specializing in food designed for the masses. Food is plentiful but if you are gluten-free or even worse, primal/paleo, then the pickings are slim and eating out can become a bit tortuous. Most restaurants fix foods that appeal to the Standard American Diet - foods coated in breading, fried in omega-6-laden vegetable oils, "fresh" from the freezer. The waitstaff are usually young kids, working for the summer in a beach town, or imports from eastern Europe who may or may not have a good grasp of English. Even if they do, it is a good bet that they have never heard of gluten or have any clue which ingredients contain it.

Even if I can't eat paleo, I ALWAYS eat gluten-free. I can usually ferret out a good meal selection by a few careful questions, but this week on one occasion, we were told by a waitress who said she checked in the kitchen, that an item was GF. Turned out it was not (as confirmed by a waiter at the same restaurant later in the week) and by the inflamed arthritis-like pains in my shoulder joints for two days after. I will work with any restaurant to stay GF. I don't expect them to make me special food, but I do expect them to be honest about the ingredients in the food I do order.

All of this is to preface the GF restaurant find of my life! Cafe on 26 opened up this year in May. They are located on Route 26 just a few miles outside Bethany. My daughter and I stopped there one afternoon on our way to some local shopping because their sign advertised a coffee bistro and we can usually depend on coffee as being gluten-free. Much to our amazement, when we got the menu, we found out the place offered gluten-free items on the menu. And not just gluten-free, but homemade gluten-free! And not just homemade, but delicious gluten-free bread, bakery items, sauces, and complete MEALS without the worry of gluten contamination! It turns out one of the owners has celiac disease and wanted to have a restaurant where those of us who are GF can eat in total trust that we will not be contaminated. I threw paleo out the window that day (and on subsequent visits) since my chances to eat excellent GF food in a restaurant are limited at best. However, I could have easily eaten a paleo meal there as well.

For my lunch that day, I had a grilled cheese with bacon and tomato on GF bread. Real moist delicious bread, not the frozen store variety. It came with chips and a pickle and I got a nice cafe latte to go with it. My daughter had a turkey sandwich on GF bread with the same sides. The waiter assured us that almost all of the bakery items were GF (and clearly knew which few were not) so we shared a piece of cheesecake. Heaven!

We went back for dinner the next night. Oh bliss! My husband had cool peach soup, duck with cherry reduction, a quinoa tabouli, and red potato salad. My daughter had the same soup, salmon crusted with potato, and mashed yukon gold potatoes. I had beef bourguignon, mashed yukons, and green beans and carrots. We each had drinks (wine, mojito, vodka) and finished up with delicious coffees and desserts (Grand Marnier chocolate mousse, expresso chocolate mousse, and key lime pie). Our entire meal was gluten-free and delicious. If I had chosen different sides and foregone the dessert, I could have easily eaten primal as well. But I don't often get to eat gloriously GF anywhere except home, so this was one meal to splurge.

On our final day at the beach, we stopped for a light breakfast on the way home. The restaurant chefs make GF baked goods that are outstanding. I had bacon (see, somewhat primal) and a cinnamon danish roll. Oh my! My daughter had french GF toast with bacon. We had coffees all around. There are omelets and other dishes to choose from, but it was a rare treat to get a real cinnamon roll. Oh, and did I mention they make GF scrapple? If you are from Maryland or PA, you love scrapple. It comes with the territory and since going GF, I have had to give it up since it is all made with flour. These folks make their own gluten-free. I missed it this visit but wait until next year!

The prices are extremely reasonable and the waitstaff is friendly, knowledgeable, and efficient. They smile! The setting is gorgeous - a renovated older home with comfortable seating areas free of greasy placemats and screaming children (a rarity in this resort town). I can say nothing bad about this restaurant, except for one thing: It is 3 hours from my house. Here's their website: http://www.thecafeon26.com/ and their facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Ocean-View-DE/The-Cafe-on-26/356764231562?ref=ts

I hope they are open in winter because we plan to make a winter trip this year. The website doesn't do them justice. This place is good, GF or not, and I encourage everyone who gets in the area to stop by and give them a try. Of course, I would like to maintain that fine line between too popular that you have to wait 45 minutes to get in and not popular enough to stay in business until I can get down there again!

How Does My Garden Grow? Take a Look!

2010-07-24T13:41:00.000-04:00

Crazy hectic week, but I did get a little time to spend harvesting a few items from the garden. The vegetables are small this year due to a month of drought in June and into July, but a few recent downpours have helped. The tomatoes have grown at least two more feet of vines and promise many tomatoes in the next month or two. The peppers love it hot so they are doing well. However, the onions are barely bigger than the sets I planted and the tops are dried, so I pulled all of them today. They will do for salads and additions to sauces. Surprisingly, I have some nice lettuce and sorrel for greens this late into a very hot summer. I also pulled the two potato plants and got a few purple skinned potatoes. They are not paleo, but I don't think a potato once in a while is going to do anyone in. Patty pan and zucchini squash are starting to come in and I have a feeling we will soon be overloaded with those. And for the first time, I got a nice large eggplant. It is an heirloom variety, apparently very resistant to flea beetles, and it has been doing very well compared to its non-heirloom cousin planted right next to it. I will have to keep that one on my list for next year. I have a lot of veggies in the nightshade family, but these have never bothered me, so they are not on my list to avoid. Herbs are also doing well - anyone need some dill?

Hot Day Salmon Hash

2010-07-08T17:58:00.001-04:00

Ewww! Is she kidding? Salmon hash? It was a hot day once again in the Mid-Atlantic with temps close to 100 degrees for the fourth day. Needless to say, this is not the time for slow-cooked short ribs or heavy sauces. I'm hanging around by myself for a few days while various family members are off on adventures, so I have been subsisting on lettuce with various pieces of meat, and dressings. (Sour cream makes a great dressing by the way, and Daisy Sour Cream has one ingredient: cream). If you do dairy, it's a good choice. Full fat, of course.

After a couple of days of that, I wanted something hot but easy to make, preferably with minimal washing up afterwards. As usual, some of the best recipes come from seeing what's on hand and making do. Tonight, I had a can of wild salmon, a small light purple eggplant, and some spices. Why not? Here's the result:

Served on the fanciest of paper plates. Just me and the dog around, so who cares? He got a little in his bowl - I couldn't stand the staring. And, it was delicious. The trick is to let it get crusty on one side. Oh my! The recipe is on the recipe page. It tastes a lot like corned beef hash, but is probably a little bit better for you.

High and Dry in Big Sky

2010-07-05T20:09:00.004-04:00

We just got back from a week at Nature Conservancy's Pine Butte Guest Ranch on the Rocky Mountain Front in Montana. I've trekked around a bit in my area of PA in my Vibram FiveFingers but I wasn't sure how they would do on the rocky faces. I was pleasantly surprised. My daughter and I figured we were on the right track when the naturalists who guided us up the trails in the area also were wearing VFFs. Our first hike was up Indianhead - a trail with lots of switchbacks through forest, then mountain meadows full of wildflowers, then onto a rocky, shale-y area at the top. In the pic below, we came up the back side of the mountain in the center and ended up on the edge overlooking miles of Montana.

Next, we did an all-day hike up to the top of Pine Butte, a butte that overlooks a swamp/fen area preserved by the Nature Conservancy. Wildlife abounds there - moose, elk, black and grizzly bears, antelope, deer, and numerous birds including golden eagles, magpies, pelicans, and herons. To hike up the Butte, you walk along the bottom next to the swamp, then up a series of rocky switchbacks to the top. The top is amazing. Fossils of clam and snail shells are everywhere. We found evidence of bears and deer. We saw a beautiful golden eagle harassed by magpies. The VFFs easily gripped the trail. What I noticed most is that while others in typical hike shoes slipped and rolled on loose stones, the VFFs allowed me to easily feel a loose rock and move my foot to a more secure location.

Here we are at the top. You can clearly see my daughter's VFF Sprints and one of my KSOs. Here's a view of the Butte from another smaller butte overlooking the Preserve during a wildlife watch. We saw "moose and squirrel."

The ultimate challenge of the VFFs was another all-day hike up to an area called Our Lake. Our Lake is located over 7000 feet at the top of a tall mountain and up a very steep trail. I have to tell you that I am a bit of a wimp when it comes to certain height locations. I am fine as long as there is something on the downhill side of me, even 3 inches of stone or grass, but the trail up to Our Lake contains my worst nightmare: a steep-slided slope with a 18 inch path dug into the side of it, with a sheer dropoff on one side. It is pure scree - loose sharp rock. The reward for crossing this 500 foot path across the face of the mountain is a beautiful waterfall falling from a hidden lake at the top. I was very thankful for the VFFs. I felt as if they were more stable than a hiking boot. However, I was NOT comfortable at all with that path. I got to the other side with a racing heart and opted to stay at the base of the waterfall rather than go up to the lake, which involved more of the same scree paths with the lovely addition of snow mounds across the path. My daughter, who has no fear of heights, went on ahead scaling the heights like the mountain goats she found at the top. I waited at the waterfall with a can of bear spray and my husband, who kindly hung around with me. We did get a visit from a mule deer who casually grazed about 20 feet from us before moving on. Here are pictures of the waterfall and a pic of the lake that my daughter took. It was truly beautiful but I don't regret missing the last part and using the time instead to screw up the courage to go back across that scree.

I think the only disadvantage of the VFFs during the week was the propensity of the toes to gather flower heads which was a source of amusement for other hikers. My longest hike of the week in them was 8 miles (up to the Our Lake waterfall). They are quiet, secure, protective, yet give you plenty of feel of the trail. Later in the week it had rained a bit so I wore regular athletic shoes. They were much less secure on the rocky trails and had a tendency to roll more to the side. I much prefer the VFFs.

Finally, a word about the guest ranch. The Pine Butte Guest Ranch is run by the Nature Conservancy. They provide a wonderful range of adventures from horseback rides, which I also took advantage of, to hikes guided by knowledgeable naturalists. The hikes and rides are quite challenging, though you can opt out and go for easier hikes if you want. Three meals a day are provided and they are quite good at catering to special requests. I requested gluten-free for me and my daughter, instead of trying to explain paleo/primal, and the cooks and staff did a great job of asking questions and providing us with delicious meals. We got lettuce wraps for hike sandwiches and sorbets instead of baked goods for desserts. I didn't worry too much about other carbs - it was vacation and I didn't want to seem too much of a pain, but if I had asked, they would have provided anything I asked for. Their meats and produce are local, grass and/or pasture fed and many of their fresh vegetables are grown in a solar-powered greenhouse. It's an awesome place, very suited to a primal experience yet with all the amenities. They do great work there (and they have a heated pool for swimming after those long hikes and rides). Here's a link: Pine Butte Guest Ranch