It's been awhile and I apologize. I've tried lots of new recipes but just have been motivated to write. But I've had so many of you send me questions, etc., I feel the pressure!! Just kidding about the pressure. You have motivated me.
So let me answer questions about books I like. I will discuss them in order of my favorites. Please don't be offended if it's not your favorite as this is my personal opinion.
My absolute favorite is "The Paleo Solution" by Robb Wolf. The reasons behind Paelo are explained very clearly. If you don't understand the why, you won't adhere to this lifestyle. This book also has an excellent 30 day meal plan with recipes included. It is a great book for beginning the Paleo lifestyle.
"Wheat Belly" by William Davis is another must have. It has very few recipes; however, it is full of some very basic and important information.
I absolutely love "Paleo Slow Cooking" by Chrissy Gower! I am usually busy sewing everyday and sometimes I forget to plan our evening meal. So, when my quitting time arrives I sometimes seem to be scrambling for dinner ideas. When that happens I tend to fall back on meat and salad! This book has a lot of simple slow cooker recipes and the ones I've tried are very good! This book is a must have for the busy bee!
"Everyday Paleo" by Sarah Fragoso is another good book. Not only is this book full of great recipes it also has specific eating plans for your needs and/or goals. I love it!
And "The Everything Paleolithic Diet Book" by Jodie ad Gilaad Cohen is also a great book. There are some great recipes here also.
These books can become expensive so I recommend using internet sources as often as possible. Sometimes you can find these books on Amazon at reasonable prices. And there are some great websites with both information and recipes for the Paleo lifestyle. One really good one is www.paleoplan.com.
Hope this helps give you an idea of which book you'd like. Happy Paleo! and talk with you later!
Friday, February 22, 2013
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
Batman!
Always be yourself.......unless you can be Batman....if you can choose, always be Batman!
This is my husband's favorite saying. I know the man had a Batman lunch box. You remember the old metal lunch boxes we carried to school? I'll bet you had one yourself. I had a different one every year. But I'd bet on it - Lawrence always had a Batman lunch box!
Lunches are an enigma when eating Paleo. There is only so much you can put in a lunch box. I admitted we're not 'squeaky clean' Paleo and the lunch box is our 'dirty' area. I mean.......please.......give me a break here. I'm doing the best I can. You can't expect Batman to eat raw veggies and slabs of meat for lunch....can you? Well, maybe....but not my Batman!
Lawrence tries to cooperate with me on this Paleo stuff but he has drawn the line a few times and he has just done so again! Sigh......the lunch box.
Our dirty little secret is wraps........we use tortilla wraps in his lunch box. We DO use the low carb spinach wraps, etc. He has had chicken wraps, beef wraps, ham wraps, and veggie wraps. The one thing he hasn't had since we started this new life style is a PBJ sandwich. (Just in case you don't know - that's peanut butter and jelly sandwich).
Peanut butter is a no-no. Jelly is a no-no. Bread is a no-no. So basically, a PBJ sandwich is a big no-no! And it's his all-time favorite sandwich. It's been such a big part of our life. He even passed the love on to our children. Katie had a PBJ sandwich in her lunchbox every single day until she started high school. I offered options; but, nope - she'd only take a PBJ sandwich. She even broke her toe at a very young age trying to sneak a large jar of peanut butter from the cabinet. At least Josh tried other sandwiches in his lunch box - but not until middle school! Until 6th grade it was PBJ all the way for him! This family has an obsession with peanut butter. I kid you not!
Just to give you an even clearer picture.......Josh and Katie eat really 'clean' and healthy. BUT when they come home their only request is for me to make 'regular' biscuits so they can have peanut butter and syrup. (Now, that's another story!)
Back to the lunch box enigma. I decided to surprise Lawrence with a "PBJ" wrap. Not a good idea, by the way. I was so proud of myself. I spread the wrap with peanut butter (yep, I treated him with real peanut butter) and jelly (really just crushed fruit with no sugar). And I rolled it up - very carefully and put it in a plastic container. Did I say it.....so proud of myself! He was going to be so surprised! And boy was he!
This is his re-cap of lunch. Close to lunch time he began thinking, "I think I saw the peanut butter jar out this mornning. I bet there's a PBJ sandwich in my lunch box. Yum." And then he opened it up and.....a wrap. "Well, this is different."
Bite number one.....jelly runs out the end onto his hand. "This is going to be messy. I'll hold it over the container." Second bite....lots of jelly in the container. Third bite.......nothing but peanut butter and the flavor of jelly! All the jelly went out the end! And yes, I had it folded properly!
Lesson -Don't try this at home! PBJ wraps DO NOT work! Just get a loaf of bread and treat yourself to a real PBJ sandwich. There is NO substitute!
This is my husband's favorite saying. I know the man had a Batman lunch box. You remember the old metal lunch boxes we carried to school? I'll bet you had one yourself. I had a different one every year. But I'd bet on it - Lawrence always had a Batman lunch box!
Lunches are an enigma when eating Paleo. There is only so much you can put in a lunch box. I admitted we're not 'squeaky clean' Paleo and the lunch box is our 'dirty' area. I mean.......please.......give me a break here. I'm doing the best I can. You can't expect Batman to eat raw veggies and slabs of meat for lunch....can you? Well, maybe....but not my Batman!
Lawrence tries to cooperate with me on this Paleo stuff but he has drawn the line a few times and he has just done so again! Sigh......the lunch box.
Our dirty little secret is wraps........we use tortilla wraps in his lunch box. We DO use the low carb spinach wraps, etc. He has had chicken wraps, beef wraps, ham wraps, and veggie wraps. The one thing he hasn't had since we started this new life style is a PBJ sandwich. (Just in case you don't know - that's peanut butter and jelly sandwich).
Peanut butter is a no-no. Jelly is a no-no. Bread is a no-no. So basically, a PBJ sandwich is a big no-no! And it's his all-time favorite sandwich. It's been such a big part of our life. He even passed the love on to our children. Katie had a PBJ sandwich in her lunchbox every single day until she started high school. I offered options; but, nope - she'd only take a PBJ sandwich. She even broke her toe at a very young age trying to sneak a large jar of peanut butter from the cabinet. At least Josh tried other sandwiches in his lunch box - but not until middle school! Until 6th grade it was PBJ all the way for him! This family has an obsession with peanut butter. I kid you not!
Just to give you an even clearer picture.......Josh and Katie eat really 'clean' and healthy. BUT when they come home their only request is for me to make 'regular' biscuits so they can have peanut butter and syrup. (Now, that's another story!)
Back to the lunch box enigma. I decided to surprise Lawrence with a "PBJ" wrap. Not a good idea, by the way. I was so proud of myself. I spread the wrap with peanut butter (yep, I treated him with real peanut butter) and jelly (really just crushed fruit with no sugar). And I rolled it up - very carefully and put it in a plastic container. Did I say it.....so proud of myself! He was going to be so surprised! And boy was he!
This is his re-cap of lunch. Close to lunch time he began thinking, "I think I saw the peanut butter jar out this mornning. I bet there's a PBJ sandwich in my lunch box. Yum." And then he opened it up and.....a wrap. "Well, this is different."
Bite number one.....jelly runs out the end onto his hand. "This is going to be messy. I'll hold it over the container." Second bite....lots of jelly in the container. Third bite.......nothing but peanut butter and the flavor of jelly! All the jelly went out the end! And yes, I had it folded properly!
Lesson -Don't try this at home! PBJ wraps DO NOT work! Just get a loaf of bread and treat yourself to a real PBJ sandwich. There is NO substitute!
Tuesday, February 5, 2013
Grits and Dogs and Paleo....oh my!
Grits......
How do I love thee, let me count the ways.
I love thee with butter
I love thee with eggs
I love thee with bacon
I love thee with ham
I love thee with sausage
But please not with the yams!
Yams (sweet potatoes) for breakfast???? That is one of the recommended breakfast Paleo foods. Sorry, folks.....did you read my day 1 posting? I was born and bred in the South! Sweet taters are not a breakfast food! For we Southerners, Paleo breakfasts are a struggle and I am asked quite often about our breakfast. Eggs and meat are the only common breakfast food of Southern food and Paleo food.
You can have eggs any way you want them.....boiled eggs, scrambled eggs, eggs made in an omelet (no cheese), poached eggs (yeah, right!), or fried eggs. Yep, fried eggs are allowed. They can be fried in olive oil, coconut oil, or your bacon drippings. DID I say bacon? I did! Remember.....meats are common food...
So you can have eggs and bacon, eggs and sausage, eggs and ham, eggs and chicken, eggs and veggies......but it's still an egg.
What I really want is GRITS and eggs! But that just doesn't happen in this house anymore. We used to make a breakfast casserole - eggs, grits, sausage, and cheese - so yummy. But no more. It was a sad day when I tossed by bag of grits in the trash! I almost cried (I did say almost)! Not only was the casserole yummy but the best part was I could make it and we would eat on it for days. Hence, I didn't have to cook at 6 am every morning!
So, I go through all the Paleo recipes and here's what I found - Swirly Crustless Quiche - made in either muffin pan or 9" x 13" pan! Oh joy! I won't have to cook for a few mornings! Or so I thought.
Here's the story. I decided to cook this yesterday to have for today and Wednesday and Thursday morning. (makes 6 servings, 1 per day for each of us). It was so easy to make and bake. But here's what I learned. If you use a muffin pan, use cup liners. Oiling pan is NOT enough! Your pan will never be the same!
If you're putting them on a cooling rack.......well.....
Here's that story... I put extra muffins on the cooling rack to cool while I ate my muffin. My muffin was delicious! But the others were still too warm to put in a plastic bag. So I left them to cool more while I did some house cleaning. I went to put the muffins in the bag and...wait....there are only 3 muffins! I know I only ate one....didn't I? Thought process....yes, I did. ..it did make 6, didn't it? Looked in the sink at pan soaking....yes, 6 were made....I'm not completely crazy! Then it hit me.....Abby! Abby is our 70 pound standard poodle. During her last pregnancy she started taking items from the counter. Never sweets, just 'bread' type items. Leaving cookies cooling - not a big deal. Muffins....oh yeah, she likes 'em..... no proof....no crumbs....nothing.....but I KNOW!
We love feeding our dogs the 'raw food diet'.....but Paleo? She obviously loves these muffins as I was stupid enough to leave my muffin on counter this morning while I was making my coffee and when I turned around.....can I say disappearing act? But this time there were crumbs in her curls...GUILTY as charged! I had one left and I kept my eyes on it! So, what should have been breakfast through Thursday barely made it through today. However, I learned some important things to share (I'll also share the recipe).
1. Use a muffin pan, use liners!
2. Abby is now on Paleo eating plan....ha!
3. Swirly Crustless Quiche muffins are just as good as a leftover as they were freshly baked.
4. Cool them out of reach of Abby!
Here's the recipe.
Swirly Crustless Quiche
1 large zucchini, shredded or grated
2 large carrots, shredded or grated
12 eggs, beaten
sea salt and black pepper
your choice of other seasonings (rosemary, sage, thyme, etc.)
I recommend adding either 1/2 pound ground sausage (cooked and drained) or cooked bacon (drained and crumbled). It really needs this extra flavor even though printed recipe didn't list it.
Other suggestions - swap seasoning to lemongrass, lemon peel and orange peel
add crushed red pepper flakes for a little zing
add onions and/or jalepenos
swap veggies (broccoli, sweet potatoes)
Bake at 375 for approx 45 min or until lightly browned.
Now......back to the kitchen.....what I shall I try today?
How do I love thee, let me count the ways.
I love thee with butter
I love thee with eggs
I love thee with bacon
I love thee with ham
I love thee with sausage
But please not with the yams!
Yams (sweet potatoes) for breakfast???? That is one of the recommended breakfast Paleo foods. Sorry, folks.....did you read my day 1 posting? I was born and bred in the South! Sweet taters are not a breakfast food! For we Southerners, Paleo breakfasts are a struggle and I am asked quite often about our breakfast. Eggs and meat are the only common breakfast food of Southern food and Paleo food.
You can have eggs any way you want them.....boiled eggs, scrambled eggs, eggs made in an omelet (no cheese), poached eggs (yeah, right!), or fried eggs. Yep, fried eggs are allowed. They can be fried in olive oil, coconut oil, or your bacon drippings. DID I say bacon? I did! Remember.....meats are common food...
So you can have eggs and bacon, eggs and sausage, eggs and ham, eggs and chicken, eggs and veggies......but it's still an egg.
What I really want is GRITS and eggs! But that just doesn't happen in this house anymore. We used to make a breakfast casserole - eggs, grits, sausage, and cheese - so yummy. But no more. It was a sad day when I tossed by bag of grits in the trash! I almost cried (I did say almost)! Not only was the casserole yummy but the best part was I could make it and we would eat on it for days. Hence, I didn't have to cook at 6 am every morning!
So, I go through all the Paleo recipes and here's what I found - Swirly Crustless Quiche - made in either muffin pan or 9" x 13" pan! Oh joy! I won't have to cook for a few mornings! Or so I thought.
Here's the story. I decided to cook this yesterday to have for today and Wednesday and Thursday morning. (makes 6 servings, 1 per day for each of us). It was so easy to make and bake. But here's what I learned. If you use a muffin pan, use cup liners. Oiling pan is NOT enough! Your pan will never be the same!
If you're putting them on a cooling rack.......well.....
Here's that story... I put extra muffins on the cooling rack to cool while I ate my muffin. My muffin was delicious! But the others were still too warm to put in a plastic bag. So I left them to cool more while I did some house cleaning. I went to put the muffins in the bag and...wait....there are only 3 muffins! I know I only ate one....didn't I? Thought process....yes, I did. ..it did make 6, didn't it? Looked in the sink at pan soaking....yes, 6 were made....I'm not completely crazy! Then it hit me.....Abby! Abby is our 70 pound standard poodle. During her last pregnancy she started taking items from the counter. Never sweets, just 'bread' type items. Leaving cookies cooling - not a big deal. Muffins....oh yeah, she likes 'em..... no proof....no crumbs....nothing.....but I KNOW!
We love feeding our dogs the 'raw food diet'.....but Paleo? She obviously loves these muffins as I was stupid enough to leave my muffin on counter this morning while I was making my coffee and when I turned around.....can I say disappearing act? But this time there were crumbs in her curls...GUILTY as charged! I had one left and I kept my eyes on it! So, what should have been breakfast through Thursday barely made it through today. However, I learned some important things to share (I'll also share the recipe).
1. Use a muffin pan, use liners!
2. Abby is now on Paleo eating plan....ha!
3. Swirly Crustless Quiche muffins are just as good as a leftover as they were freshly baked.
4. Cool them out of reach of Abby!
Here's the recipe.
Swirly Crustless Quiche
1 large zucchini, shredded or grated
2 large carrots, shredded or grated
12 eggs, beaten
sea salt and black pepper
your choice of other seasonings (rosemary, sage, thyme, etc.)
I recommend adding either 1/2 pound ground sausage (cooked and drained) or cooked bacon (drained and crumbled). It really needs this extra flavor even though printed recipe didn't list it.
Other suggestions - swap seasoning to lemongrass, lemon peel and orange peel
add crushed red pepper flakes for a little zing
add onions and/or jalepenos
swap veggies (broccoli, sweet potatoes)
Bake at 375 for approx 45 min or until lightly browned.
Now......back to the kitchen.....what I shall I try today?
Monday, February 4, 2013
Not until I get my coffee!
Blogging - Day 1
I love to cook and I love to eat what I cook. THUS, the dilemma.....you know....oh, yes you do! Cooking + eating = pounds on the hips!
Anyone that has ever visited in our home knows how 'peculiar' we are about our food. There is no sugar in our house, no colas of any kind, and no breads - white or otherwise. I wish I could tell you we don't like those things....but we do! But we have made a conscious choice. Food will be fuel for our bodies and not a reward or comfort as we were taught growing up. Or at least, I was....my husband's Mother is a definite Yankee and good for him he never grew up with true Southern food. But boy, oh boy, I did! And when we were married....well......he really learned to enjoy his food! I taught him the real way to eat Southern!
See, I was born and raised in the South....the DEEP South! My home's in Dixie - that's Alabama for you Yankees. We had either cornbread or biscuits every day. And I do mean every day! All meals consisted of grits, rice, or potatoes (along with that bread). Frying was the basis of all cooking. And sugar makes everything taste good! Desserts were not an option. They were ALWAYS part of supper. Again, for the city folks.....that's dinner, the evening meal.
We started cleaning up our 'act' years ago because we wanted not just longevity of life but quality of life, too. I would love to tell you we are 'squeaky clean' - but that just wouldn't be true! We still love to eat and there are days we go 'dirty' and eat off the grid! They are fewer and fewer; but still, they are there.
I decided to write this blog because of all the questions I receive from friends and family. What do you eat in place of bread? pasta? soda? What is a healthy dessert? I don't know all the answers but I'd like to share with you the recipes I try and the information I gather. And share the experiences had while on this journey in pursuit of a healthy life. We eat semi-Paleo. 'Semi', you ask? Yes, because where we live it is so difficult to find organic anything! So, we do the best we can.
First, let me tell you about our coffee. No way, no how are we giving up our coffee! We NEED our coffee. I'm sure you understand! However, what we really enjoy is the 'stuff' we put in our coffee.....French vanilla liquid coffee creamer....and lots of it.....white and sweet coffee. Really, it was just a little coffee in our creamer! Ha! We drink 2-3 cups a day and that's a lot of sugar. We don't use artificial sweeteners of any kind; so, those creamers are not an option. So, I'd like to share our very own coffee creamer recipe with you.....Paleo style.
mix together
1 quart heavy whipping cream (yep, that's right! has no sugar!)
1 can of coconut milk
3-4 vanilla beans (or a small bottle of vanilla flavoring)
1/8 cup of honey (there we go......some sweetener...that's what I'm talking about!)
Store in fridge
No, it's not quite the same. No, it's not quite as good. YES, it is healthy! I promise after just a few days you won't go back! I have to give credit here - our sweet Paleo-friendly daughter helped with the development of this recipe.
So......there's your recipe for the day! Check back tomorrow to see what's cooking.....Southern Paleo Style!
I love to cook and I love to eat what I cook. THUS, the dilemma.....you know....oh, yes you do! Cooking + eating = pounds on the hips!
Anyone that has ever visited in our home knows how 'peculiar' we are about our food. There is no sugar in our house, no colas of any kind, and no breads - white or otherwise. I wish I could tell you we don't like those things....but we do! But we have made a conscious choice. Food will be fuel for our bodies and not a reward or comfort as we were taught growing up. Or at least, I was....my husband's Mother is a definite Yankee and good for him he never grew up with true Southern food. But boy, oh boy, I did! And when we were married....well......he really learned to enjoy his food! I taught him the real way to eat Southern!
See, I was born and raised in the South....the DEEP South! My home's in Dixie - that's Alabama for you Yankees. We had either cornbread or biscuits every day. And I do mean every day! All meals consisted of grits, rice, or potatoes (along with that bread). Frying was the basis of all cooking. And sugar makes everything taste good! Desserts were not an option. They were ALWAYS part of supper. Again, for the city folks.....that's dinner, the evening meal.
We started cleaning up our 'act' years ago because we wanted not just longevity of life but quality of life, too. I would love to tell you we are 'squeaky clean' - but that just wouldn't be true! We still love to eat and there are days we go 'dirty' and eat off the grid! They are fewer and fewer; but still, they are there.
I decided to write this blog because of all the questions I receive from friends and family. What do you eat in place of bread? pasta? soda? What is a healthy dessert? I don't know all the answers but I'd like to share with you the recipes I try and the information I gather. And share the experiences had while on this journey in pursuit of a healthy life. We eat semi-Paleo. 'Semi', you ask? Yes, because where we live it is so difficult to find organic anything! So, we do the best we can.
First, let me tell you about our coffee. No way, no how are we giving up our coffee! We NEED our coffee. I'm sure you understand! However, what we really enjoy is the 'stuff' we put in our coffee.....French vanilla liquid coffee creamer....and lots of it.....white and sweet coffee. Really, it was just a little coffee in our creamer! Ha! We drink 2-3 cups a day and that's a lot of sugar. We don't use artificial sweeteners of any kind; so, those creamers are not an option. So, I'd like to share our very own coffee creamer recipe with you.....Paleo style.
mix together
1 quart heavy whipping cream (yep, that's right! has no sugar!)
1 can of coconut milk
3-4 vanilla beans (or a small bottle of vanilla flavoring)
1/8 cup of honey (there we go......some sweetener...that's what I'm talking about!)
Store in fridge
No, it's not quite the same. No, it's not quite as good. YES, it is healthy! I promise after just a few days you won't go back! I have to give credit here - our sweet Paleo-friendly daughter helped with the development of this recipe.
So......there's your recipe for the day! Check back tomorrow to see what's cooking.....Southern Paleo Style!
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