Introducing "It's Primal Y'all!"

Hey, I have a new primal blog, with a catchier name, on a platform that will be easier to use (so I've heard), so please go there to continue reading my posts about the primal/paleo lifestyle:

It's Primal Y'all! Primal with a Southern Drawl

 

 

All the posts I've written from the past two months were transferred over to the new website (there's an export/import function for both blogspot and wordpress that makes it easy), and I think I have updated all the links. Some of the photos are not positioned correctly, so as I have time I will reposition them, but otherwise, it looks the same as this one.

 

When I created this blog, it was not intended for primal/paleo info, it was just stuff I thought was interesting. The name is a total dud,  (sandy's check it out -- that's really the best I could do? haha!) and along with the difficulty of using the blogspot editor, I thought it was time for a new name and a new editor.

 

Being from the South, even though I don't have much of a southern accent, I thought this would introduce the idea that Primal isn't just for people in California! (Many of the primal bloggers are out there.)  Southern food is not typically what you'd think of being adaptable to primal ingredients --  after all, grits are grits, and there's no substitute. But I just don't like all the weird ingredients I see on so many primal websites; eating things that are toooo different will cause me to have a primal-fail! so I thought it would be fun to try to put a primal spin on Southern Food!  And I will continue to share info that is interesting as it applies to learning about living in a healthy "primal" way.

 

Thank you for reading, I hope you will join me at It's Primal Y'all! today!

Sandy

Is Paleo Even Possible?

Recently there's been some criticism of the "paleo" diet, but it's not so much the diet that is criticized but the name. People apparently want to condemn the whole idea of eating real food because of the name-- paleo, primal, ancestral, caveman -- saying that we can't possibly know what people 10,000+ years ago ate;  are they implying, therefore, that we should eat junk? Are they serious?

I have no doubt that few of us would want to live and eat like ancient people. And even if we wanted to, we simply couldn't.

Nutty Bites

Nuts* seem to be in a lot of primal snacks. I just made these little Nutty Bites yesterday --they are yummy and you can eat one in two bites (or if you are like my husband, just  pop the whole thing in your mouth). For an extra treat, I put a spoonful of coconut oil on top of mine just before I ate them.

 

Vary the flavor by using different fruit and nuts.  I think dried mango, dried pineapple, raisins, coconut, almonds, and macadamia nuts would be good.  Or try dried blueberries, raisins, cranberries, almonds, and cashews (with "paleo white chocolate" if there is such a thing)!

Paleo Popularity

Maybe I spend way too much time clicking on random internet links but I am finding a lot of paleo websites around the web.  Most of them are well designed, with articles and plenty of recipes. The reason there are so many websites is probably because people want to share the good health results they are experiencing.

The more primal/paleo/ancestral/real food websites there are, the more people will hear and learn about the benefits of eating Real Food!

 Farmer's Markets are becoming more popular as more and more people want to buy real food grown locally, (frequently without chemicals). There's been a huge growth in the number of farmer's markets around the country in the past few years.

Grain-free "Breads"

I don't encourage you to make bread substitutes all the time because I think you will continue desiring wheat bread that is now off-limits. Save these recipes for special occasions or when you have company. I have tried the scones and the cheese biscuits, and they are good enough to serve to company who will probably have no idea they are not made with flour.

Most of these recipes use almond flour which is very expensive at the grocery store. It is less expensive when bought in a 5-pound bag through amazon.  Coconut flour, while less pricy than almond, can also be found on amazon. The cost of these flours is another reason to make hese recipes infrequently.  Store almond and coconut flours in the refrigerator or freezer.

Diet Books

4 Bookshelves of Diet Books

Everyone must be trying to solve the obesity problem now because there are hundreds of Diet Books available. How would anyone know where to start? Which diet to choose? Do most people use the recommendation from friends or maybe a TV host to choose their next diet? Notice I said "next diet".

Americans seem to go from diet book to book hoping to find some way to make it easy to eat the junk and still lose weight. We believe the promises made on the book covers that we can eat all we want and lose pounds.  You might start out well enough, but after a week or two you are tired of the food restrictions, always hungry, tired of counting calories, and you let yourself cheat a little bit. Soon you toss the book aside assuming you are a failure and doomed to keep gaining weight until the next book cover entices you to try it.

Eat Beets!

When I was a kid, I might have eaten canned sliced beets about once a year.  I started cooking with fresh beets when I learned to make borscht in 1995, but I threw away the greens, thinking that only the round red root was edible.  (By the way, as with most other foods, fresh tastes much better than canned!)

Now that I buy fresh local organic beets, we eat the greens and the root. I took a couple pictures while making beets today to show you how to work with them.

Primalizing old Cookbooks/ Polynesian Chicken Salad

There are so many paleo/primal websites online with recipes, and quite a few paleo cookbooks at the library, so you really don't have to buy special cookbooks if you want to start eating Real Food --meat, fish, eggs, vegetables, and fruit, with olive and coconut oils, and nuts. These aren't weird ingredients.  (I tend not to like cookbooks that have unusual ingredients I am not used to eating.)

Many of  the primal websites focus on recreating the old food that are off-limits in the primal world: primal cinnamon rolls, primal cookies and muffins,  primal bread, and paleo pizza! They are ok once-in-a-while, but I think it's a mistake to try to make these substitute foods because they just aren't going to taste the same and that will cause you to miss the grain-based foods you enjoyed.

I Can't...

What is holding you back from trying the Primal way of eating? Could you try it for just 14 days? Maybe you've thought about it briefly but concluded that I Can't...

• Give up cereal and toast in the morning
• Stop using sugar in my coffee
• Give up snacks
• Afford pastured eggs and beef or organic vegetables
• Cook like that
• Take time to learn about primal
• Chase after every fad diet that comes along
• Bother counting calories
• Give up wheat, I will feel terrible
• Make my family eat like this

Here are some of my responses:

Getting Along in Life

Maybe you are satisfied with the way your life is, so you have no interest in changing the way you eat. In fact, you eat rather well, especially compared to those around you at work and compared to what you see people buying at the grocery store. You tend to follow the government's recommendations to eat plenty of grains, and you eat vegetables and fruit, you try to buy low or no-fat milk and dairy products, and you cut all the visible fat off meat.

Yet year after year you see a weight gain of a 2 or 3 or 4 pounds. Maybe you have a lot of clothes in your closet that are too snug now (or are yours like mine--I just assumed they had all "shrunk" in the dryer). Have you considered that by gaining just 2 or 3 pounds a year, you will be an extra 20 or 30 pounds heavier in 10 years? And  40-60 pounds heavier in 20 years? Getting fatter is not a necessary process of getting older. 

Meat Eaters

This week I read a fascinating article written in 1935 by Vilhjalmur Stefansson who lived with the Inuit for about 11 years in the early 1900s. He wrote of his life with them and the diet they consumed-- fish, seal, polar bears -- no vegetables or fruits at all, yet the people were healthy and without disease.  (They had not yet started eating white-man food.) They ate every bit of a fish, including the head, and they tossed the heads into a pit where they would rot, and then they would eat them. It is impossible for me to imagine eating things like that yet it  was only about 100 years ago. I have an idea that we simply can not comprehend what a paleo/caveman would have eaten.

Tom Naughton and his Bad Science lecture

Science for Smart People is really funny while being very serious too. Comedian Tom Naughton makes fun of scientists as he explains some of the problems with results of "scientific studies."  These studies, unfortunately, are what the US dietary recommendations are based on...and they are often intentionally misleading.  You can watch it on youtube or here where I found it on the Authority Nutrition website.

Casseroles

When I started eating the Primal diet I stopped making casseroles since most have noodles or some pasta in them. As I find recipes for casseroles  made with "primal approved" ingredients I will post them here.

Spinach Chicken Bake just
out of the oven

Spinach Chicken Bake
This is delicious following the basic recipe, next time I might try it with the extra ingredients. While dairy is not on a strict paleo diet, it is sometimes ok with the Primal Blueprint plan.
1/2 cup plain greek yogurt
1/2 cup homemade mayonaise
1/4 Mozzarella cheese (I used fresh cheese that I sliced)
1 cup Parmesean Cheese (I used fresh grated Parmesan Reganno)
2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp salt
2 cups cooked chopped chicken (bake or boil then chop)
1 10 oz package of frozen or fresh spinach* cooked, squeeze to remove a lot of the water 

Mix yogurt, mayo, Mozzarella, Parmesean, garlic powder, and salt in small bowl. Set aside.
Combine chicken and spinach, add half the cheese mixture.  Mix well. Pour the chicken mixture into a medium size greased casserole dish and smooth the top. Spread remaining cheese mixture over the top. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Makes about 6 one-cup servings.
(modified from original recipe at sparkrecipes.com)
Optional ingredients: Add any or all: 1/2 sauteed onion, 1 can drained mushrooms, diced tomatoes, diced zucchini
*I used a pile of fresh small spinach, cooked it in a little water in a large covered skillet. The spinach was piled above the skillet but cooked down. Sorry I don't have an exact amount, maybe 8 cups or more.

Freezing Greens

I just returned from another trip to Rose Paradise Farms; this time I spent $11 on this pile of produce. I lined everything up on the counter just to enjoy looking at it: a huge pile of kale, a pile of spinach, green garlic (the long grassy things hanging down), one bunch of beets, a huge bunch of parsley, a really huge pile of chard, plus a some cilantro and dill that were coming up from last year that she gave me for free.

I'm going to make a salad with the parsley, will cook the beets, not sure what to do with green garlic, and I'm going to freeze the greens.

But first, everything had to be washed two or three times outside with the hose, because some of it was really dirty. The spinach, being small, was growing very close to the dirt, the beets were in the dirt, the chard was pretty dirty as well. The kale was small but on stalks several inches above the ground so it wasn't too dirty.

Get Wheat out of your Life

One of the grains we eat the most is Wheat.

In 2012 when I started to investigate the possible connection of wheat and migraines, Wheat Belly by Dr William Davis might have been the first book I read. It convinced me that wheat is really not good for anyone, even for those who don't officially have celiac disease. I highly recommend reading this book cover-to-cover.

Dr Davis also writes an informative blog and it is also worth your time. Start at the beginning (here) and page through each post where you will learn a wealth of information as well as read inspiring stories of improved health of people who have removed wheat from their diet.  Dr Davis often answers questions in the comments section, so glance at those too. While his book and blog are titled Wheat Belly Dr Davis is generally opposed to all grains since they all raise insulin levels. 

What kinds of problems does wheat cause? Here are just a few:

Weight gain

Diabetes and pre-diabetes

Hypertension

Joint pain, arthritis

Acid reflux, irritable bowel syndrome

Peripheral neuropathy, cerebellar ataxia, dementia

"High cholesterol"

Migraine headaches

Depression

Water retention, edema

These Wheat Belly blog posts might whet your appetite to learn more about this modern version of the grain we call Wheat:

Frequently Asked Questions a good place to start
Wheat Belly Quick and Dirty some of the problems with wheat
Wheatopia another summary of health problems resulting from wheat
Finally A Wheat Relationship gone Bad   a rather funny (in a "truth in jest" way) story of breaking free from wheat's hold on us.

Primal Desserts

If you've read the Primal Blueprint by Mark Sisson, or the Paleo Solution by Robb Wolf, you know the idea is to eat (and move) like the hunter/gather people did before agriculture was invented. (I won't get into my thoughts on how this fits with the Bible when Cain grew crops and his offering wasn't accepted; I am planning to write about it later) ... Anyway, it's obvious that people waaaay back then (even after agriculture societies formed) didn't end each evening meal with dessert, although I'm sure if they found fruit or honey they enjoyed the sweet taste.

However, dessert is a part of our culture, and if you feel like the primal lifestyle deprives you  of "all the good stuff", you might decide to give up. I prefer to have a few recipes that use primal ingredients, so if I want to end a special meal with something dessert-like, I can! (For a few years I ended every meal with either a dessert or a bowl of ice cream. No more.) On very rare occasions (out at a fancy restaurant, on a cruise, at a wedding) if I eat a eat a few bites of dessert made with sugar and flour, it's probably ok.  Beware though of so many of the primal-safe desserts that just substitute a lot of honey or maple syrup for sugar, or use sweeteners like xylitol and erythritol (whatever they are). 
(Update: I just read a Wheat Belly  post by Dr William Davis on sweeteners and he says avoid using honey and maple syrup. He uses xylitol and erythritol in his recipes online. So I don't know what to use, will have to read more.  Check out these articles from Mark Sisson as a start: Are Sugar Alcohols Healthy? Is Stevia Healthy? The Truth on Truvia. I generally use small amounts of honey, not recipes that call for 1/2 cup or so.)

I think using other sweeteners causes us to desire the sweets, which might make it more tempting to eat them more often, regardless of the effect on insulin.

So here are some ideas for Primal Desserts (more to come as I find them):

Sauteed Pears
I made up this recipe as you can probably tell, but it is very good.
2 Tbs butter + 1 tsp for later
1 ripe pear, unpeeled, thinly sliced (about 16 slices)
about 1/2 tsp cinnamon
about 2 Tbs raisins or dried cranberries
about 2 Tbs sliced pecans
splash of vanilla (about 1/8 tsp)

Melt butter in a small skillet and lay the pear slices in the pan, try to have each slice on the pan and not piled on top of each other. Sprinkle with cinnamon, the raisins, and pecans. Cook on low heat for a few minutes, then flip the slices over. Don't overcook or the pears might fall apart. You can sprinkle with a bit more cinnamon if you like. 
Make a little clear area in the middle of the pan and drop in 1 tsp more butter and the splash of vanilla.  Try to coat the raisins and pecans in this vanilla/butter. Serve the pear slices in two small bowls, top with the raisins and pecans and spoon over any remaining buttery sauce.  I used a Comice pear, it is the most delicious pear variety I've ever eaten. If the store doesn't have Comice, I just don't buy pears.

Chocolate Parfait
Good enough to serve in a pretty crystal parfait glass!
For each serving:
1 tbs chocolate chips
1 heaping teaspoon coconut oil
1 tsp cocoa powder.
1/2 cup full-fat Fage Total Greek yogurt (I buy a large tub at Fresh Market)
splash of vanilla
optional topping: marachino cherry, grated dark chocolate
Melt the chocolate chips and coconut oil over low heat, stir in the cocoa powder. Let the chocolate cool a little then stir into the yogurt with a splash of vanilla. You can add a few drops of honey if it needs to be sweeter. Spoon into a parfait glass and top with a maraschino cherry (not primal) or grated dark chocolate. Yummy!

Cherry Pie Truffles
These are tasty little bites to have with tea or after dinner.
2 cups pecans
1 cup pitted dates
1 Tbs vanilla extract
1/4 cup ground flax*
Zest of 1/2 lemon
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1/4 cup water
1/3 cup dried cherries
1/4 cup toasted coconut (for rolling)

Blend pecans in food processor until they look like meal.Add flax and pulse until blended.
Add vanilla extract, lemon juice, lemon zest, dates, and water. Blend until it starts to clump together.
Place mixture in a bowl, and stir in cherries.
With a teaspoon or melon baller, scoop 1" balls and roll in toasted coconut. Cover and store in the refrigerator. For a special treat drizzle with chocolate.
* when I made these I didn't have flax so I used almond meal.
(Recipe from DAMY Health Blog.)

Chocolate Candy
1/2 cup  coconut oil
2 Tbs  honey or  maple syrup
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
Warm the coconut oil just until melted in a 2 cup measuring cup; add the honey, whisking until thoroughly blended. Add the cocoa powder and vanilla. Pour into a silicone ice cube tray or silicone mini muffin tray. Cool for 30 minutes in the fridge or freezer. Makes 12. Or pour onto a sheet of parchment paper, chill, and break into pieces.
Optional ingredients: add 1 tsp orange rind to the chocolate or drop chopped nuts, dried fruit, coconut into the ice cube compartments before filling with chocolate.
(Thanks to France for this recipe.)

----------

Here is a special dessert that does have a bit of sugar. It qualifies as gluten-free but not primal.

Lava Cakes
I made this for Valentine's dinner, and while it has some sugar, in my opinion, it is totally worth it!
4 large eggs, separated
6 1/2 ounces bittersweet (not unsweetened) or semisweet chocolate, chopped
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
Pinch salt
4 tablespoons sugar, divided*
4 chocolate truffles (such as Lindt’s Lindor truffles), in your favorite flavor
Fresh berries, for serving (optional)
Whipped cream, for serving (optional)

Heat the oven to 425 degrees F. Lightly butter four 6-ounce individual ramekins or custard cups. Dust the ramekins with rice or coconut flour; tilt to coat and tap out the excess.
Separate the eggs and reserve 2 of the egg whites for another use. Set aside the yolks and 2 remaining egg whites.
Place the chocolate, butter, and salt in the top of a double boiler over 1 inch of simmering (not boiling) water. Whisk until the chocolate is smooth and no small lumps remain. Remove the pan from the heat; let cool 10 minutes.
Place the 2 egg whites in a clean, grease-free mixing bowl. Beat on low speed until frothy. Increase speed to medium and gradually add 1 tablespoon sugar. When the sugar is incorporated, increase the speed to medium high and beat until the whites hold stiff, but not dry, peaks.
In a large bowl, combine the egg yolks and 3 tablespoons of the sugar. Beat (use the same beaters) until the mixture is thick and light, about 2 minutes. With a rubber spatula, scrape the chocolate mixture into the egg mixture and gently fold the two together.
With a rubber spatula, gently fold the egg whites into the chocolate mixture until well combined.
Divide about one-quarter of the batter among each ramekin. Add a chocolate truffle to the center of each and cover with the remaining batter. (The recipe can be prepared up to this point up to 4 hours ahead. Cover the ramekins with plastic wrap and refrigerate them until 15 minutes before you plan to bake them.)
Bake the cakes for 11 minutes, or until they are puffed but still soft in the center. Transfer the baking sheet to a wire rack and let the cakes cool for 5 minutes. Run a small knife around the sides of the cakes to loosen them. Place plates on top of the ramekins and invert the cakes onto the plates. Serve warm, with berries and whipped cream (if using).
*You could proably use honey in place of sugar. (Thanks to Rudi on the Holland America blog for this treat.)

Don't Diet!

I have never been "on a diet" ... I'm not on a diet now. I read about eating in the paleo/primal style in Primal Blueprint and it made sense*; I read about avoiding wheat in Wheat Belly and it made sense:  we must eat good food that contributes to our health and well-being and we must avoid stuff that not only does no good, it actually harms our health. 

Our diet-- what we eat -- should be for the purpose of keeping us healthy. 

The word "diet" has been distorted today. We have the idea that its ok to eat whatever we want unless we need to lose weight. Weight is just one component of being healthy. In our culture today, "being on a diet" implies that you will reach your weight goal and then you can go back to whatever you were eating before. You may be willing to be deprived of what you want to eat for the immediate goal of weight loss. But it's been shown that most people who manage to lose weight on a "weight-loss diet" will gain that weight back (and more) when they get off the diet. So skip the diets.

Don't look at your diet as a way to lose weight by starving yourself or eating weird food for a while; instead look for the food that will make you your healthiest. Surround yourself with healthy real food. (Learn about real food here.) Recognize that a LOT of stuff that is sold is imitation food-like products, made for a long shelf life, made to make you crave more -- it's BAD stuff!

I continue to read about the primal lifestyle and read the success stories of other people to help me stay on track and not fall back into unhealthy eating. Here's a great video series about real food; you can watch it on youtube: Hungry for Change (there are 7 parts, each about 10 minutes). It's well worth watching. (There's also a book by the same name on amazon.) 








*While I agree with the primal lifestyle recommendation to eat real food, I don't agree that we evolved to eat like that.

Labels

A new book is out (with some bad reviews) trying to make fun of the paleo lifestyle. Paleofantasy. I guess it is no surprise that someone would try to make money by ridiculing the paleo/primal/cavaman diet, just as others have done with the Atkin's, South Beach, Ornish, Pritikin, and Grapefruit diets. A new diet plan becomes well-known and soon enough the detractors write a book against it.

It's unfortunate that the paleo/primal lifestyle had to choose that name, it's just asking for jokes since it immediately invokes images of dirty, hairy brutes hunched over a fire, gnawing a huge bone.  Maybe there are a few eccentric people who really want to live like cave-men, but most of the well-known names in the paleo/primal community realize that it's impossible to live like the cave man, and they wouldn't want to anyway. We have a lot of wonderful blessings in the modern world and an author who implies that we'd toss it aside to live in a cave does not understand what the lifestyle is all about.

So forget the labels, don't jump on the bandwagon of the latest fad just to jump off again when you read a criticism of that fad. Instead, consider this: You probably want to live a long healthy life, feeling great, with plenty of energy to work, play, and enjoy every day; you probably do not want a life of sickness and pain, experiencing problems that require frequent visits to doctors, drugs, and maybe an early death. Good food and clean water are two things our bodies need to be healthy.  (The others include exercise and rest.)

God created a variety of plants and animals for our food so we can live healthy lives. The food that God created is not like the so-called food that is created in a food-industry lab. Food scientists try to discover the properties and individual molecules that are in real food so they can isolate and repackage them, but there's more to food than individual molecules.  It is truly a case of the whole being greater than its parts.

Produce from a Farmer's Market

Real food grows in the ground or eats the plants that grow in the ground, or lives in the ocean. Eat real food, as close to its natural state, raised with the least amount of chemicals, preservatives, and processing possible.

You will not find real food in a "health food store" that is nothing but rows of supplement bottles lining the shelves. You will not find real food in the aisles of boxes and cans even in a "whole foods" type of store.  Just because a store calls itself "fresh" or "whole" or "natural" doesn't mean you don't have to be careful of what you buy inside.

Beef cattle at Fort Creek Farm in
Sparta Ga.

(Obviously,  sometimes we eat things that come in a bag, can, or box; just today I bought raisins*  and raw walnuts (in bags), tea bags in a box, and olive oil in a can; I also buy cans of coconut milk and a large container of coconut oil.)

Don't get sidetracked with labels to describe the diet you follow. Let the primal/paleo lifestyle simply be a guide and a reminder to avoid modern processed phoney-foods. Just eat real food for life.

-------------
*By the way, check your bags of dried fruit; it's hard to find any that don't contain a vegetable oil. Amazing that they add oil to keep dried fruit from clumping. I'd rather break apart the clumps by hand that eat the oil. I was buying Newman's Own Organic Raisins until I noticed that they add sunflower oil. Sun Maid raisins contain no oil, but they aren't organic. So which is worse?

Dancing Donuts in Kindergarten

We homeschooled when our kids were little, and one thing I remember was creating a homemade board game for them to learn about healthy eating, based on the Food Pyramid. Remember seeing this diagram? (I used to wonder how anyone could eat up to 11 servings of bread, cereal, rice, and pasta but I didn't question the overall government recommendation.)

Jelly Beans for Easter?

Yay! Jelly Beans are Gluten Free!!

I really like jelly beans, especially the black ones. (I didn't buy them this year though.)

Have you seen jelly beans with a Gluten Free label? It seems like more manufacturers are identifying which candy is gluten-free, widening the choices for candy-loving kids and adults. This is probably useful for people with celiac who otherwise eat the S.A.D.* full of sugars, oils, and preservatives.

But hold on, just because something is gluten-free doesn't automatically mean it's healthy. Jelly beans are just an extreme example, of course, and you probably realize that a label with "Gluten Free" just means there's no wheat gluten in the product, but doesn't say a thing about bad oils, sugars, HFCS**, preservatives, or other grains that still cause insulin to shoot up.

Breakfasts Ideas

Breakfast seems to be the most difficult meal to eat primally, since toast, cereal, oatmeal, muffins, danish pastry, donuts, pancakes, and french toast are off limits! Are eggs and bacon all we can eat?

A Second Visit to Rose Paradise Farm

chard, cabbage, kale, spinach for $6! (I didn't include them in the picture,
but  3 doz eggs were another $9).

Don't worry, I am not going to write a post every time I go out to RPF, but I just got back with more produce and 3 dozen eggs. Before I start washing and blanching greens to put in the freezer I want to say once again what a great deal they offer on fresh-picked vegetables.  Look at the chard, cabbage, kale, and spinach I got today :)

Natalya was setting out broccoli seedlings in straight rows; the beets are coming along and might be ready on my next trip. Can't wait for the summer vegetables to start coming in, hopefully I'll get some of their tomatoes, carrots, strawberries and blackberries, squash, okra, and all the good stuff they will be raising.  (By the way, I didn't always cook with most of these vegetables, so I've been collecting recipes to put on this blog as I learn ways to prepare them.)

I like the way the RPH folks update their website each week to let buyers know what's available. This week there's cabbage, collards, kale, chard, spinach, parsley, and green garlic.

Unfortunately there was no more romaine lettuce (too bad for me) as we've eaten all I bought there last week, but I am starting to get some more baby lettuce off and on from my raised-bed garden. Doing without romaine is just an example of eating food that's in season, locally grown and therefore picked at the peak of taste. In a week or so, the market on Broadway will resume, and that will contribute more vegetables, fruits, and local honey to our meals. 

Thanks to all the people who work so hard to raise healthy food! 

In Defense of a Native Diet

I have been reading Michael Pollan's book In Defense of Food where he has some thought-provoking observations about our current attitude about good food. It is not a primal book at all (Pollan is in favor of whole grains), but he does recommend eating real food, not processed junk.  I will probably write another post or two about some of his ideas that are worth considering. (Actually the whole book is pretty interesting.)

Here is a story I excerpted that shows the health benefits of a traditional native diet. I'm not saying I want to live in the bush and eat grubs, but it once again reinforces the harm in our common "western diet" (highly processed, packaged, preserved, sugary, bad oils, refined grains).  Also, this experiment would not have been possible if the people did not already know how to live in the wild.

Not So Fast!

This is a cool idea from San Diego:   A paleo & primal food truck serving the west coast, offering local and pastured meats & eggs, wild caught seafood, and vegetables & fruit.
It's called  Not So Fast!

From the pictures it looks like a popular place to get a bite to eat, and the menu looks scrumptious! (The prices seem a bit high, but it is California.)

I wonder if this idea might catch on elsewhere (probably no chance of that!)  But it is a good way to get the paleo and primal diet out in view of the public, might make them learn about it.

Shake the Hand that Feeds You

What's the best way to get away from the Standard American Diet (S.A.D.) or the Western Diet that is making so many of us sick and fat? Stay out of the supermarket! Stay out of fast food joints.  Cook Real Food at home.

Start shopping at farmer's markets, join a food co-op (CSA*), plant a garden! Why?

Butterhead lettuce, looked like
a watercolor painting

Your produce will be local, so it will be in season and at the peak of quality. No need to buy strawberries from Chile in November (have you noticed a lot of produce is coming from South America now? It may be labeled organic, but it can't be picked ripe if it has to travel that far.) Last year, we got strawberries from our CSA for a few weeks. They were picked the day before we ate them, and were so juicy they were staining the bag red. The butterhead lettuce was perfect with velvety-soft leaves so beautiful I took pictures of it. It tasted as good as it looked too. My home-grown lettuce mixture surpasses anything in the "baby lettuce mixtures" at Fresh Market, which tastes like cardboard in comparison. Yesterday, the lettuce in the salad came from the dirt to the table in about 10 minutes.


Chris and Jenny, the farmers for our CSA. We say Hi every
Saturday from April to November.

You can shake the hand that feeds you! Talk to the people who are raising the food you eat.

Our CSA farmers, Chris and Jenny, feed over 125 families with the fresh organic food they raise on 4 acres. Sometimes I look at the food on our table and realize everything we are about to eat is a result of their hard work.  (Chris writes a farm blog that is so well-written, I told him he should turn it into a book!)





SunGold Tomatoes

The variety of products will probably be different from what you'll find at the supermarket as well. I tried Japanese Turnips recently from White Oak Pastures -- they were so tasty I ate them as I sliced them onto a plate, but they aren't available in stores.  The local SunGold tomatoes are so sweet you will wonder if you bit into a yellow grape. By buying produce from the local farms I discovered vegetables I had never heard of: tat soi, sunchokes, Japanese turnips, watermelon radish; plus some I had heard of but didn't recognize: bok choy, Russian kale,  and more.

Of course, the farmer's market probably won't operate year-round, or you might not live near one. If you have to shop at the store, stay around the perimeter, don't go into the aisles with all the processed packaged food-like substances.  Not everything around the edges is natural of course -- just look at all the no-fat yogurts and individually wrapped cheese slices. But you can find produce, eggs, meat, and dairy that are not overly processed. 

*CSA Community Supported Agriculture, another name for a farm co-op. Members pay at the beginning of the season then recieve a box of produce each week from the farm. It's a great way to eat fresh food while helping small local farms stay in business.

GMOs Exposed -- Genetic Roulette

Will you take an hour to learn something very important to your health? Please watch this video, Genetic Roulette, describing the dangers of GMOs (genetically modified organisms.*

Warning: After watching this video you may want to change your family's diet.

Tips to Start Eating Healthy

I just read "So You Want to Start Eating Healthy -10 Tips that Will Get You Started" by Kelly at Primally Inspired; it is worth reading for yourself so I won't copy her entire blog.

I thought it would be interesting to consider how her suggestions have applied to me.  Here are her tips in bold and my success or failure doing them. You'll notice that these are not "quick-fix lose weight today" tips. This is a lifestyle change so it may take time to implement these ideas and adopt them in your life.

What do you Feed a Ferrari?

If you had a Ferrari and you put diesel fuel in it, how would it run? Would it even run at all?

What if there was no gas station nearby, so you scooped in some sand and poured bottles of water in the fuel tank "just this time."  Once is all it would take to ruin that engine. 

Anyone who could afford this car had better be smart enough to take care of it, and that includes knowing what to put in the gas tank. (I suppose Ferraris take premium gas.)

How about a race horse (or any horse for that matter)? Would you feed your horse corn chips and candy bars and let it drink sweet tea? It wouldn't stay healthy for long if you did. Horses have specific nutritional needs to stay strong and healthy.

So why do we think that we can get away with putting junk in our bodies?  We are infinitely more complex than a Ferrari -- so why we don't we provide our bodies with the proper fuel to be healthy and strong.  Unlike the Ferrari, we can get by for a while eating junk, but sooner or later it will affect our health.

Next time you are tempted to eat fast food or something full of preservatives and synthetic chemicals, look for Real Food instead.

Real Food does more than just fill you up like junk food does.

It contributes to your health!

Bored with Breakfast?

I admit it, eating eggs for breakfast everyday is boring. Even if I make them in omelets, scrambled, boiled, or in a frittata, with bacon or sausage, they still taste the same overall and I just can't eat them every morning. 

So I was very curious to try this recipe for Chocolate Breakfast Souffle with almond butter sauce when I came across it this morning.  Since I hadn't eaten breakfast and  had all the ingredients (including a ripe banana), I got busy and made this. It took less than 25 minutes start to finish.

First bite, hmmm, it's not bad. By the end, I was scraping the bottom of the dish to get every tasty bit. I hope these will be good cold, or maybe rewarmed for Nic's breakfast tomorrow. He will be happy!

Since this is not a recipe I invented, please go to the website of the original for the ingredients and directions.

To the left,
the four ramekins
are sitting on the pan
just out of the oven.
(I used 6 oz ramekins
bought at Target
last month for $2 each.)
You can bake the souffle
in a pie pan too.

 

 

Since this was so good, I will probably try some of the variations: Breakfast Fruit Souffle and Gingerbread Breakfast Souffle.

 

Thanks to Kelly at Primally Inspired for these recipes.



Shop at Local Farms

When I wrote a couple of days ago about Pastured Eggs, I included a couple of links at the bottom for LocalHarvest.org and EatWild.com.  I checked those websites for farms around my area here in SW Georgia and found one that sounded interesting.

the farm stand in summer

Rose Paradise Farm  It's not real close, maybe 25 miles, so I'd have to weigh the cost of gas against the value of fresh produce and eggs. But today I had to drive over that way anyway and decided to take a nice country drive and check out Rose Paradise Farm.


Michael and Natalya

 

cutting collards

It's not a big operation. The owner Natalya came out to meet me in the driveway.  After telling her what I wanted to buy, she cut the greens while I stood there talking to her, and she stuffed a grocery bag full for $1!  She said they try to give good value for the money. And I think I got a good deal.

Large pastured eggs, from a heritage breed of chickens that live on the field in a moveable coop, are $3/dozen, so I got 4 dozen! (With the Primal diet, eggs are a "superfood" -- you can eat a lot!)

Yay, what I saved on eggs (they are $5.29 at Fresh Market) more than paid for the gas.

Here's what I got for $16: 4 dozen eggs (just 1 dozen eggs in the picture, two grocery bags stuffed with collards, 4 heads of romaine lettuce and about 1/2 bag of rainbow chard. Natalya also sells home canned preserves, sauces, soups, and Russian cabbage slaw (yes, she is Russian, so tell her привет, "pree-vyet" which is "hi".)

You might find a small farm near you -- check out Local Harvest and Eat Wild and support your small local farmer while you eat good food.

Doctors Used to Smoke

 

Did you know that many doctors used to smoke, and actors pretending to be doctors were featured in cigarette ads touting the benefits of smoking?* These days we would never expect to hear a doctor encourage people to light up. 

Just as doctors used to smoke and didn't discourage it in their patients, today's doctors often don't encourage a healthy diet.  But it doesn't mean that your diet is not important. Who knows, someday we may see doctors encouraging better health by telling patients to avoid grains and sugars.

 

 Hey Wait! We already DO see

doctors encouraging patients

to avoid grains and sugars!!

 

A few come to mind:

Dr Robert Lustig, on Sugar: The Bitter Truth, a video that lasts about 1 1/2 hours, but is worth listening to if you can spare 90 minutes for your health. Dr Lustig has a new book out Fat Chance where he expands on the information he discusses in the video.

   

Dr William Davis, a cardiologist, who wrote Wheat Belly, in which he explains how wheat contributes to obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and other diseases of western culture. He also has a video that is worth watching: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47QlothkpsE

   

Dr Ernie Garcia, writes a blog called PaleolithicMD (he has not updated this blog for a few months, but past posts are quite informative). He encourages his patients to try the paleo diet as a means of reducing their risks of heart disease and diabetes.

   

Dr Dan Egan writes at Paleo Happy 

   

Here is a list of more Low-Carb or Paleo Doctors who maintain websites. The Paleo Physicians Network and Primal Docs maintain a list of doctors who prefer to treat non-emergencies with a paleo diet approach first.

-------------------------   

It is turning out to be pretty easy to avoid grains and sugary foods.  Just as I've never looked at the cigarette rack and wished I could smoke, now I don't walk past the bakery department and wish I could eat the muffins and breads -- I have stopped thinking that I am being deprived and instead I see them as bad stuff to avoid.

*See Cigarettes Were Once 'Physician' Tested and Approved

 

Pastured Eggs

Easter will be here in a couple of weeks, and one fun part of the day is children finding colored eggs hidden outside in the bushes and tall grass. Is that what you think of when you hear "Pastured Eggs"? 

(By the way, if you don't know yet, eggs are good for you.  The information from the past that said to avoid eggs or eat just the egg white is wrong. See Why Are Eggs Good For You.)

Grass-fed Beef

We've been buying grass-fed beef, pastured chickens, and their eggs from White Oak Pastures, a farm about 80 miles south of Columbus.

 

Maybe you are asking, "Grass-fed cows, pastured chickens and eggs, what's the big deal?"

Real Food Shouldn't Be So Hard

We have to eat, but there's so much misinformation out there, how do we know what to eat? Every new study jerks you around: eat this; no don't eat this, eat that instead!

For most of human history people haven't been reading diet books and news articles about the latest diet study results. They had better things to do than over-analyze every bite that went in their mouths. I think they knew what was poisonous, and what was healthy, and they probably tried to eat the good stuff. They were not obese, they did not suffer from modern diseases like heart attacks and diabetes, they did not jump from diet to diet (they probably didn't have any other "diet" to jump to), and they would have been appalled to see what we call food today.

Eat Your [Fresh] Vegetables!

Did you grow up eating a variety of vegetables?

I didn't, although my mom did make dinner almost every night from scratch. Most of the time we ate meat or chicken with potatoes (fried or mashed), LeSeure peas mixed with carrots, or maybe a frozen package of buttery corn. Sometimes the potatoes were boiled with green beans. But Dad didn't like vegetables much so Mom was stuck making what he would eat. I know she liked more vegetables than that. I guess we had other things for weekday meals but they really don't stand out in my mind.

Gluten-Free Junk Food

 Just Because it's Gluten Free

Doesn't mean it's Healthy!

A recent survey says that almost one-third of Americans are trying to reduce or exclude gluten from their diet.* Have you noticed the gluten free label on cake and cookie mixes, cereals, breads, and breakfast items? The big food manufacturers are all on board with Gluten Free. It's the latest fad and they aren't going to be left out. But just because they've removed the gluten, it doesn't mean the item is healthy for you to eat. It's still in a box or a package, it still lasts for months on a shelf, and it's probably still full of sugar, preservatives, bad oils, not to mention grains that don't have gluten but still cause the rise in insulin.

Praise for Coconut Oil

Refilling the coconut oil jar

This morning after putting a heaping spoonful of coconut oil in my breakfast smoothie, it was time to refill the small jar from the large 54-oz container I bought last month on amazon. 

I ate what was stuck to the spoon-- it is so yummy-- but I didn't think so a few months ago, so maybe coconut oil is an acquired taste. The unrefined oil I have now has a faint coconut flavor which is delicious, but the refined oil has no flavor at all.

There are many articles on the health benefits of coconut oil. I like it because it's a way to get fat in my diet. In spite of knowing that pastured animal fat is good for us to eat, I just have a hard time eating beef or chicken fat. A slice of roast with a huge piece of fat attached, ugh, I can't eat it.

One Year on Primal

Celebrating One Year since I started the Primal Diet, March 5, 2012.

I am grateful that Nic's aunt asked him if I'd ever considered eliminating gluten to see if it would help migraines.

Her question is what caused me to start reading everything I could find at the library and on the internet about wheat, grains, sugar, processed foods, and their connection to health problems.  The first two books I read were Wheat Belly and The Primal Blueprint.

Don't let "Greek" Yogurt Fool You

Greek Yogurt is the new rage now in the dairy section...have you noticed that almost every brand of yogurt is "Greek" or "Greek style"? All it is is yogurt that has been strained a little more so it is thicker and creamier -- and more expensive. Beware of imitations; check the ingredients, because they may just be using thickeners (natural or not) to create the texture of real Greek yogurt which allows them to put a lower price on the product.

Clearer Skin with the Primal Diet

Occasionally I read the Epic Beauty Guide,  a blog about having beautiful skin and not too surprisingly, the author, Stephanie, follows and recommends a paleo diet. Click on the link to see what she eats and what she avoids. Stephanie also refers to a study  that says people in non-westernized countries rarely have acne:

What's Wrong with Wheat?

In my search for a connection between wheat and migraines, I came across the book Wheat Belly by Dr William Davis, a cardiologist, which pointed out many diseases that are improved or cured by the elimination of wheat. (Telling someone that wheat is unhealthy causes people to question your sanity.) This led to reading about the primal diet in The Primal Blueprint by Mark Sisson, which recommends eliminating all grains.

Pete Evans, an Australian chef and cookbook author, asked Dr Davis  to write a section about wheat for his new cookbook (coming out in 2014) . Here's an excerpt of what Dr Davis wrote:

Familiar Recipes -- Primal/Paleo Versions

I've seen quite a few weird recipes on the primal and paleo websites, and I tried some; frankly, they are mostly disappointing. Eating delicious food is one of the enjoyable moments of the day, so I like it to taste good! I also understand that it's healthy to eat the parts of the animal that Americans don't usually touch, but I'm not quite ready to eat liver and brain and sweetbreads.

So today I am going through my recipe collection from the past 35 years and separating the Primal, Almost Primal, and Not-at-all Primal, so we can eat food that we have enjoyed all these years, just without the sugar and grains. (Unfortunately, my delicious mac-and-cheese recipe falls in the "not-at-all primal" category.)  I am planning to post my converted recipes here as I type them.

Almond Joy Smoothie

Here's a tasty-looking breakfast smoothie to try, something I found on Pioneer Woman's Tasty Kitchen website that originally came from The Lucky Penny...

Almond Joy Smoothie
½ Frozen Banana
1¼ cup Coconut Milk
2 Tbs Shredded Coconut
1 Tbs Cocoa Powder
½ tsp Vanilla Or Almond Extract
2 Tbs Creamy Almond Butter
ice

Update: I didn't wait for tomorrow's breakfast; I just made this for lunch. It is delicious! Almost tastes like a chocolate milkshake so try it yourself!

VEGETABLES
Now that the Primal Lifestyle means we are eating more vegetables,  I have been collecting recipes to cook all these new vegetables. Here are recipes by vegetable-- I hope this proves useful! I will update each page with more recipes as I come across them. Leave a comment with your favorite vegetable recipe and I will add it.

Arugula

Arugula and Tomato Salad

 Wash and dry the arugula; tear into bite size pieces. Toss arugula with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper. Add chopped tomatoes and serve.

Asparagus

Asparagus with citrus butter

1 ½ lbs asparagus

1 tsp olive oil

salt and pepper

¼ c fresh citrus juice

3 tbs butter

1 tsp citrus zest

Snap off the tough parts of the stalks where they break naturally. Peel up to the tips.

Soak asparagus while oven preheats to 425, then drain and put in gratin dish. (no need to dry) Toss with oil and season with salt. Bake until the stalks are tender, 20-40 minutes.

Boil the juice in a small pan until it has reduced to about 1 ½ tbs, remove from heat, whisk in butter and zest, some salt and pepper. Spoon sauce over asparagus.