I hope that all of you football fans out there enjoy the big day, eat a lot of great paleo food, and spend time with friends and family.

I’m spending the day working hard on my next big project so please send positive thoughts my way!

Here’s a quick snack idea just for fun – and it’s a recipe you’ll find in my next cookbook…..

Tuna Stuffed Eggs

6 hard boiled eggs

2 tablespoons homemade mayo  

1 green onion, diced

2 teaspoons lemon juice

2 teaspoons dijon or yellow mustard

1 5oz can of tuna

Chopped pickles (optional)

Peel the eggs and slice them in half length wise from. Take the yolks out of each half and put them in a small bowl. Add mayo, lemon juice, salt, pepper, chopped green onion,garlic and mustard to the yolks. Mix all the ingredients in the bowl well. Stir in a can of tuna. Spoon this mixture into the hollowed out egg halves and enjoy.

Now, let the cooking begin!!

Tuna Stuffed Eggs is a post from Everyday Paleo - licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License

Our next giveaway is a $150 gift certificate to Tropical Traditions. 

Tropical Traditions is an amazing resource for organic foods and healthy products including coconut and olive oil.  Our family favorite products are Gold Label virgin coconut oil, organic strained tomatoes, coconut chips, coconut flakes, and organic extra virgin olive oil, just to name a few.  Winner will be announced Friday January 27, 2012.  

To enter to win, please send an email to contests@everydaypaleo.com with your order number or proof of purchase for pre-ordering Paleo Pals: Jimmy and the Carrot Rocket Ship from either Amazon or Barnes & Noble.  You can also enter to win by emailing in a link to where you have tweeted, Facebooked, or blogged about Paleo Pals.  Thank you so much for your support!  Winners will be picked by random drawing and announced on my Facebook page and on the blog, so hurry and enter for your chance to win!

Stay tuned to the blog for our next big giveaway!

All entries for today’s giveaway will automatically be eligible to win each consecutive giveaway for the promotion of Paleo Pals: Jimmy and the Carrot Rocket Ship. No purchase necessary.

EPLifefit Membership Winners and a Tropical Traditions Giveaway is a post from Everyday Paleo - licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License

Readers often send me recipes that they have created, and this one looked so good I had to give it a try! Thank you Staci for sharing such a delicious dish with us, our whole family loved it!  Now, I’ll pass it on to all of you.

Yummy Greek Meatballs

1 pound ground lamb

1/2 pound ground beef

2 tablespoons minced chives

3 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 cup chopped parsley

1 egg, room temp

1 tablespoon dried mint (I used fresh)

1 tablespoon oregano

1 teaspoon sea salt

1 1/2 tespoons cumin

1 tablespoon cinnamon

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

8-10 dried apricots, chopped

8 (or a many as you want) kalamata olives, chopped

Mix all the above ingredients and form into meatballs (I made about 1-2in meatballs).  Place on a cooling rack which is on a baking sheet so that they brown all the way around.  Bake at 450 about 15 mins, depending on size.

Makes approximately 15 meatballs.  Serves 3-4.

Enjoy!

Yummy Greek Meatballs is a post from Everyday Paleo - licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License

Emotional Changes…..and a Collar Bone!!

Before I began this blog I want to thank all of you for your wonderful support. It was more than I ever imagined and to be honest was one of the big parts of keeping me focused and on track this far.

I am excited to report that I have been going through many changes both physical and emotional over the last few weeks. So many changes that it took me a lot of time, writing and rewriting this blog to figure out what I wanted to talk about first. I decided on our emotional connection with food, I figured that was a topic many of us can relate to.

Is it common to have mixed emotions when transitioning into the Paleo lifestyle?  I am pretty sure most of you are going to say yes, and I did expect some emotions to come up, just not in the way they did.

My first few weeks transitioning to a Paleo lifestyle has been both hell and heaven combined. I was surprised to see from many of your post a lot of you also switched from a vegan/vegetarian diet, so you know that that transition in itself was a massive adjustment. Then Sarah (in her loving way) informs me, no sugar….NO SUAGR!!! Are you crazy, do I stand tall and not so proud and say I am a sugar addict? No question, I am not one of those salad loving, carrot chomping girls by nature. I want the chocolate, the cookies, the carbs (in my case gluten free) but really, when you are shoving them in as fast as I could, who cared if they tasted like cardboard or heaven, a cookie was a cookie. And for the record I am not the, “Oh how lovely a chocolate, why thank you”, No, No, I am the give me the whole box and step away.

By the end of Day 1, ok day 2, 3 and probably 4, I wanted to quit. I was feeling very much out of my comfort zone and did not like that, here is part of a great quote Jason Seib on EPLifefit posted to me (Jason hope you don’t mind) “The good news is  you realize your comfort zone was not the best place for you”.

Processed foods where no longer an option, I had to plan and think about what I was putting in my body, it was very overwhelming and as silly as it sounds, scary. I thought I would starve and to be completely honest for a few days I did, not because of Paleo,  but because I froze in fear. I decided I would just starve and feel sorry for myself like I had a million times before. Needless to say that did not last very long, I realized with Sarah holding my hand I had the power to change myself. My body had been whispering to me and now the choice became mine, and I was willing to listen.

I had to relearn how to eat, relearn my way around the super market, the middle isles where no longer my friend…I had to learn how to hunt and gather!!

Thankfully I am connecting with the wonderful people on EPLifeFit, they keep me strong, direct me, answer my questions, cheer me on, and openly share their stories, and they are not going to let me fail.

I began to think, others had done this Paleo thing, had success, and where feeling better so why not me. The facts and science where there, read Sarah’s book Everyday Paleo, check out the awesome testimonies on EPLifeFit or read anything written by Robb Wolf, or Dr.Loren Cordain.

I quickly realized, I like many of us eat like a robot, we have our go to foods, usually comfort foods, don’t think much about them, just buy, unwrap, heat and eat. They are lacking in nutrition, they are quick, easy and full of chemicals and fillers. My question quickly became what are we as humans really feeding? Not our body that is for sure, we are eating for all the wrong reason.

Following the Paleo lifestyle, I continue to discover what foods bother me personally and are setting off my thyroid. That’s one of the great pros of Paleo, it is a personal plan not a one size fits all… (Did you know eggs bother autoimmune issues)

As the weeks continue and I finally feel more in control of what is right and wrong for me and my health, and yet something odd is happening. I am missing the old me, the sugar binges, the feeling crappy, it defined me, it was comfortable, I knew my place, my go to foods.. Now those go to foods make me ill, bloated and nauseous (as they always did, now it is just really obvious), not that I crave them now physically (emotional cravings are a whole other story) , but I want to, I want that comfort in the form that I knew it.

When I find myself pacing the floor, going to the kitchen looking for old faithful, this little annoying question pops up. What do I really want? What am I really searching for? What am I really trying to feed?

We all know change is uncomfortable, even good change, but who knew bettering yourself and your health, could make you so uncomfortable

I continue to look forward to more changes that are to come, and am slowly realizing it is more my mind and its thoughts that I need to change. I am happy to report I no longer physically crave sugar or carb-y (is that a word!!) foods. But my brain has not yet caught up. Every day, every single day it is still telling me to go to the store buy the junk food and EAT IT!!!  Our brains are very powerful tools that like routine and my routine for many years has been JUNK.

WAIT!!! Is that a collar bone I see!!! YES!!

I wish you all much joy and happiness – untill next time, here is a quick recipe that I have been using for a quick and easy meal!

Paleo Lettuce Wraps

2 packs Canadian Bacon
8 Romaine lettuce leafs (you can also use boston, or iceberg)
Sweet onion
Mustard (Paleo)
1 whole avocado
Tomato

In one pan cook up bacon ( I steamed mine in pan with water) and chop and fry onion (again I steamed mine in pan with water, once transparent I added a touch of EVOO and quickly tossed around)
slice avocado length wise
chop tomato into small pieces
wash and dry lettuce leafs

Take lettuce leaf fill with 2 slices bacon, top with avocado, tomato and fried onion and touch of mustard to tastes…ENJOY
Serves 4

Update From Lisa – Emotional Changes….and a Collar Bone!! is a post from Everyday Paleo - licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License

Yesterday I received my advanced copy of Paleo Pals: Jimmy and the Carrot Rocket Ship, and needless to say, it’s been an amazing and emotional experience…

I am so happy it’s complete, wishing my mom was here to share in my excitement, grateful for the love and support form my amazing family, and hopeful that this book will benefit other families striving to live a paleo lifestyle. You can pre-order now at Amazon and Barnes & Noble and the official release date is February 14th!

Paleo Pals Advanced Copy Arrived!!! is a post from Everyday Paleo - licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License

Everyday Paleo Half Day Workshop in Laguna Niguel, CA! is a post from Everyday Paleo - licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License

Someone asked me on my Facebook page to post more slow cooker recipes which was quite coincidental because yesterday, as I was reading that particular post, I was unpacking a giant pork roast that I intended to make into pulled pork.  This is about the easiest meal a person could make and so versatile.  This morning we ate the pulled pork with eggs and tonight I’ll make some Purple Cabbage Slaw to eat along with the pork and I’ll maybe even make a salad out of it for lunch tomorrow; if there is any left (which I doubt there will be….)

Beyond Easy Pulled Pork

4-5 lb pork butt roast

2 yellow onions, sliced

Dry Rub

3 tbsps chili powder

1 tsp coriander

2 tsps cumin

2 tsps onion powder

1 tablespoon dried parsley

¼ teaspoon chipotle powder

2 tsps sea salt

Mix all dry rub ingredients together.  Rub the entire roast with the dry rub (you should use it all.)  Place a layer of onions on the bottom of your slow cooker.  Place the roast on top.  Put the rest of the sliced onions on top of the slow cooker.  NO LIQUID NECESSARY!  Cook the roast on high for 5-6 hours and then turn down to low for another 3-4 hours or until the roast is literally falling apart and easy to shred.

Enjoy!

Beyond Easy Pulled Pork is a post from Everyday Paleo - licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License

Believe In yourself, Believe In others.

Do you believe in miracles? Do you believe that people with kindness and compassion still exist?

I am here to say; believe! Sarah is my miracle, she is kind, compassionate and genuinely wants to share her knowledge.  With the help of Everyday Paleo and Everyday Paleo Lifestyle and Fitness, my journey to health has begun. But first, I’ll tell you what lead me here.

Like many, I want to live to be 105, dancing around and laughing, but with heart issues, high blood pressure and cholesterol issues in my family history, I figured I had better follow the “perfect healthy lifestyle” and so my vegan journey began.

 After a while (a very short while) I began struggling with weird symptoms and overtime the symptoms became too many to bear. I had quickly gained 25lbs, suffered bloating, gas, fatigue (so bad some days just the thought of crossing the street was unbearable), a thyroid that would visibly swell up, IBS, anxiety, tingling in my hands and feet, all sorts of food sensitivities (I went from being a creative cook to fearing foods and even bland foods like rice bothered me), joint and muscle pain, stiffness, and the list goes on and on.

After a million visits to the doctor as well as seeing every specialist, tons of blood work, ultrasounds and x-rays, every really serious test came back normal.

Through all of this some of the tests confirmed that I had a B12, iron and vitamin D deficiency and supplementing got rid of those, thankfully, along with the tingling and some of the fatigue. Further testing lead to gluten intolerance and I was later told it was actually celiac; well that explained the IBS, anxiety (yes a gluten intolerance symptom) vitamin  deficiency connection and why I was sudden struggling with so many food sensitivities (the gluten had caused leaky gut).

That was it; according to the doctor, nothing else was wrong, “Go home, the rest is in your head and by the way here is a prescription to calm your mental state,”…..what!!! Prescription? There was nothing wrong with my mental state except that I was following this “healthy vegan lifestyle” and feeling weaker and sicker by the day……I threw the Rx into the garbage and continued with my personal search.

The sad part was, no one could really seem to help, no one had the answers to my questions, everyone kept telling me these were detoxing signs, my body was healing.  Healing for 4 year??

I found an ND that told me I needed to add animal protein back into my diet and to get off the grains. No way, that was not true, that will make me sicker – and I ignored her advice (I have since told her I love her and that she is awesome). The search continued and I upped the grains, did more juicing, took wheatgrass shots; come on Lisa you can pull out of this! But I kept failing and feeling like a failure to my body, my body was crying for me to save it and I was crying for it to be saved.

Two yeas ago I ran across a new doctor who seemed to have some interest in actually listening to me, he would see me quickly when a symptom would pop up so he could physically see for himself what was happening….. Finally I was going to get my answers, someone believed me, someone saw what I felt. After reviewing all my symptoms over many months, he decide we needed to run some tests on my thyroid, ahha thyroid, remember how it would swell up and go down? Hashimoto reared its little head, there it was plain as day. This explained a lot of both past and present symptoms. (Not all in my head now was Dr X from the past? Ok, yes I’m still a little bitter). I sat up like a child on the first day of kindergarten awaiting my teacher to speak. Change your diet he told me, you can fix all of this with diet. I looked at him with a puzzled and confused look, diet – what do you mean diet? I eat very healthy, like a proud peacock I announced, “You know I am Vegan”, I know he said, change your diet……See a nutritionist, and get help to become healthy again.

I read everything I could get my hands on, interviewed nutrionist and I thought this is crazy no one knows what they are talking about.

Then one day in all my searching I found Robb Wolfs book, Hmm this guy’s seems pretty confident in what he is saying. Through his book I found Sarah’s website and book Everyday Paleo.  I read it and something clicked. I cannot explain what, something in her words, her energy coming through on the pages in her book, I don’t know, it was just her, I had never met her but I trusted her. As I was reading her book I felt she wanted the best for me and I found the courage to reached out to her.  ”Please help me.” I asked, “I can’t do this alone anymore, I am tired and I need more than a pat on the head, I need someone to hold my hand every step of the way. I am scared of what you will tell me to do and eat, I know what I am doing is not working, but what you are saying is going against all I have been convinced of.” Sarah agreed!!! OMG she agreed to guide me, to mentor me. For that I am forever thankful. I am very much afraid of where this road with her will go, it is against all I have convinced myself is good, but all I know right now is it has been about a week since following her advice, being ative and involved with Everyday Paleo Lifestyle and Fitness, and I feel good; unless I stray (come on you knew I had to test the theory).

My advice to all of you for 2012, never ever give up on yourself, hang strong to your instincts and never be afraid to ask…..Someone might just say YES!!!!  I’ll be back soon to give you an update on how I am doing.

Wishing you all much joy and love

Lisa

Believe In Yourself, Believe In Others: Introducing Lisa is a post from Everyday Paleo - licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License

My boys love Sweet Potato Hash for breakfast but frankly, I’m kind of tired of it, so last weekend I decided to make my pile of freshly grated potatoes into sweet potato pancakes, or latkes if you will. We topped the savory sweet cakes with bacon and fried eggs.  Yum.

If you are looking for a way to fill up your kids in the morning, or if your trying to get them excited about eating paleo, there’s nothing like a sweet potato based breakfast fried in coconut oil to delight their taste buds.

Sweet Potato Latkes

5 cups grated sweet potato

2 eggs

2 tablespoons onions, minced

1 teaspoon cinnamon

Sea salt and black pepper to taste.

Mix all ingredients together in a large mixing bowl. Heat a griddle or skillet over medium heat and melt a spoonful of coconut oil.  Take small handfulls of the potato mixture and drop onto the hot griddle or skillet and press down gently into little “cakes”.  Cook for 3-5 minutes on each side or until golden brown and crispy and the potatoes are done all the wat through. Top with fried eggs and bacon if you so desire. Makes 12 latkes.

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Enjoy!

Sweet Potato Latkes is a post from Everyday Paleo - licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License

*Note from Sarah: Coby.  My oldest son.  My teenage hero and the kid that keeps me sane when his little brothers are driving me crazy.  I wish I could explain to you what Coby means to me but how could I? It’s like trying to explain the vast expanse of the universe, so I won’t even try. Anyway,  I asked Coby a while ago if he would write a blog post and he totally went for it! Below is what he has written; from the heart of a 16 year old, he has shared with you his own personal paleo journey – short and sweet and to the point. Thank you Coby for your honesty and your willingness to put yourself out there in hopes to share with other kids that living this lifestyle can be your own unique experience.   

Coby’s Paleo Perspective

My name is Coby Fragoso, I am sixteen, and I am Sarah Fragoso’s first son. You probably don’t know much about me, but mom has wanted me to make a blog post for a while so here I am! The reason I’m not noticed much, I think, is because it’s my little brothers that look cute on the front cover of my mom’s book. I am still here though, and I have stuff to say too, like my story about being dragged along with this whole paleo thing…

I remember I never really liked bread anyways. I did not like sandwiches, and I didn’t like pizza that much. One thing I miss though is pasta. I loved pasta with all the different types of sauces. But anyways it was weird for the first couple months we started going paleo, and I’ll admit, I didn’t like it. I definitely noticed a change in what we ate and I did not enjoy eating the new food. I thought it was bland and it just did not taste right. I never complained about the food though and I eventually got used to it, or my mom became better at cooking. She never forced me to eat paleo, I just eventually stopped eating food that wasn’t paleo because I felt it was the right thing to do, and at home I didn’t have any other choice.

 A little over a year ago, I actually gave in and got a hamburger on a white bun, and it made me sick. Ever since than I have not touched any thing with gluten. I actually really like not eating things like breads and pastas; it’s something that separates me from everyone, especially at school. People will see me bring things like salami and grapes to school, or order a bun-less burger from Big Chico Burger during lunch, and they will ask me, “why don’t you eat bread?” and I say, “Because I don’t want to.”

For me it really is more of a choice, I could survive if we WERE eating bread and sugar and stuff, but I simply don’t want to. It’s something that makes me insanely different from all the people who think it’s weird to have something as simple as a different hairstyle. I guess it makes me feel rebellious or something. I don’t plan to stop eating paleo ever actually, it’s what feels right to me, and it’s what I want do gosh dangit!

I no longer break out with zits, I’m not as tired anymore during the day, and I never get stomachaches like I used to.  I have never felt better in my life.

My favorite paleo meals include:  My mom’s meatloaf, bacon, Brussels sprouts and bacon, sausage and eggs, omelets, Thai yellow curry, bun-less burgers, dry rub grilled ribeye, and really everything we eat is good.

My Teenagers Perspective on Paleo: Guest Blog by Coby Fragoso is a post from Everyday Paleo - licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License

Before you read any further, you must say Herbed Halved Chicken five times as fast as you can. It’s not a just a meal but a tongue twister too!

Last weekend we picked up a halved chicken from the farmers market and John and Jaden made a delicious herb butter rub for the bird.  They rubbed both halves with the delicious mixture and cooked the chicken low and slow on the grill until it became tender, savory perfection.  If you do not want to use butter you can sub clarified butter, ghee, lard, or another fat of your choice.  We served the chicken with roasted winter squash and I made a quick coleslaw with shredded green cabbage, diced apples, sliced almonds, with olive oil and a touch of balsamic vinegar for the dressing

Here’s what John and Jaden created:

Herb Halved Chicken

2 chicken halves (or take one whole chicken and cut it in half)

6 tablespoons grass fed butter (we used Kerrygold) or other fat of your choice

3 cloves garlic, crushed or minced

1 tablespoon fresh sage, minced

1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves, minced

1 tablespoon dried basil

1 teaspoon paprika

1 teaspoon sea salt

Soften butter in the microwave.  Mix the herbs and spices into the softened butter or other fat choice.  Pat dry the chicken halves with paper towels.  Using a rubber spatula, generously rub the herb and spice mixture all over the chicken halves.  Cook on a covered grill skin side up on low to medium low heat for 45-60 minutes.

Herbed Halved Chicken is a post from Everyday Paleo - licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License

Stuffed Pork and Salty Sweet Cravings

Time for another college budget friendly meal! On tonight’s menu; sun dried tomato stuffed pork, zucchini and for dessert salty sweet cravings.

I was feeling creative tonight and wanted to try something new and fun for dinner. I opened my freezer and refrigerator to find a pork tenderloin, sun dried tomatoes, minced garlic, and fresh basil.  The basil was home grown by yours truly (bonus point: free ingredient!). Put it all together and you get Sun Dried Tomato Stuffed Pork.

Sundried Tomato Stuffed Pork

2 pound Pork Tenderloin

1 8.5 oz jar sundried tomato haves

1 T minced garlic

7 Fresh basil leaves

Butterfly pork tenderloin. On one side spread the sun dried tomato and garlic. Lay the basil leaves on top of the tomatoes fold over the other half of the pork over and tie the pork with 3-4 pieces of string so that the stuffing stays in while cooking. Sear the pork on a hot BBQ for 5 minutes on each side and finish in the oven at 350 for 20-25 minutes.

Feeds: 8

Total Coast:  $10

Coast per person: $1.25

Here is another cheap and easy recipe for those who are battling mid-day, late night, or anytime cravings for something salty, sweet and still paleo. This snack won’t break the bank and chances are you already having the ingredients on hand.

Salty Sweet Cravings

1 ½ cups unsweetened Coconut Flakes

1 tablespoon melted coconut oil

1 tsp sea salt

Melt coconut oil in a medium size microwave safe bowl. Add 1 1/2 cups coconut flakes and sea salt mix until all the flakes are evenly coated. Line a cookie sheet with foil and evenly spread out the coconut flakes. Bake at 350 for 4 1/2 minutes or until golden brown (make sure to watch them because they will go from golden brown to yucky burnt fast!)

Feeds: 12

Total cast:  $18

Coast per person: $1.50

Dinner and dessert together $2.75 a person!

Stuffed Pork and Salty Sweet Cravings is a post from Everyday Paleo - licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License

Unfortunately, flu season is fast approaching. While a good diet goes 90% of the way toward preventing illness, sometimes cold or flu can still strike.

One remedy I always have on hand during the winter is Elderberry Syrup. This remedy gained some popularity during the swine flu and avian flu scares, as it has been shown to help alleviate flu symptoms.

“[the properties in] elder stop the production of hormone-like cytokines that direct a class of white blood cells known as neutrophils to cause inflammation, especially in influenza and arthritis. On the other hand, elder increases the production non-inflammatory infection-fighting cytokines as much as 10 fold. Elder berries are known to be effective against eight strains of influenza.”  (source)

There are several commercial brands of elderberry syrup available commercially but it is much more cost effective to make it, and you can avoid the unhealthy syrups that are often in store brands.

Elderberry syrup can be used preventatively or for acute symptoms, and kids usually love the taste.

Homemade Elderberry Syrup Ingredients:

• 2/3 cup black elderberries
• 3 1/2 cups of water
• 2 tablespoons of fresh ginger root, finely minced, or 1 tsp dried ginger
• 1/2 – 1 teaspoon of cinnamon powder
• small sprinkle of cloves or clove powder
• 1 cup (or less) raw honey (or sweetener of choice- see note below)

How To Make Elderberry Syrup:

1. Put all ingredients except honey in a medium sized sauce pan.

3. Remove from heat and let cool slightly.

4. When cool enough to touch the pan with your hands, strain the liquid through a strainer or cheesecloth into a large glass jar or bowl. Discard the strained ingredients.

5. When liquid is still warm, add the honey and stir well to incorporate. [Note: alternate sweeteners like stevia can be used, though this will create a liquid, rather than a syrup and it will only last 2-3 weeks in fridge]

6. Store in a glass bottle or jar in the fridge.

Standard dose is up to 1 tablespoon a day for adults and 1 teaspoon a day for kids over the age of 2. Some sources recommend taking every other day or only during the weeks to boost effectiveness. If cold or flu strikes, this dose can be doubled or tripled until symptoms go away.

Ever taken elderberry syrup or tinctures before? What is your go-to cold and flu remedy?

Elderberry Syrup Recipe for Flu Prevention is a post from Everyday Paleo - licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License

On October 27th, Rowan turned 4 and on October 30th, Jaden turned 8.  Time  really does fly and when I look at my little boys who keep getting so darn big, intense emotions run through me. If you are a parent, you know exactly what I am talking about and trying to express the above mentioned emotions into words really is impossible.

Anyway; we had a party for Rowan on Saturday and a party for Jaden on Sunday and let me tell you, it was a CRAZY yet fabulous weekend with lots of wonderful family and amazing friends.  In my opinion, birthdays are worth celebrating and what would a birthday be without the cake!  Over our last few paleo years I have attempted to make gluten free cakes from mixes of various store bought brands with some success but this year for the Jaden and Rowan I ordered gluten and grain free baking mixes from White Lion Baking Company and holy cow, they did not disappoint.

Rowan wanted a chocolate cake and Jaden wanted cinnamon bun muffins and both turned out phenomenally well.  You know the cake is good when non-paleo eating folks say things like, “This is the best cake I have ever had!” Or, “These muffins are out of this world!” Rowan’s chocolate cake mix came with a chocolate ganache topping that we made and used to drizzle over the cake and my amazing sister Laura decorated the cake with fresh strawberries, blueberries, and homemade whipped cream. For Jaden’s birthday muffins I followed the directions that came with the muffin mix for homemade cream cheese frosting which was just cream cheese, heavy cream and a touch of honey and I also added in some cinnamon as well.

If the thought of coming up with a grain free birthday cake seems daunting or you want to avoid the store bought gluten free cake mixes that are filled with rice flour and potato starch, I highly recommend looking into White Lion Baking Company.  The high quality grain free ingredients that they use in their products shine through in the amazing end result and I will most certainly be using this company again for my future baking needs.

At Rowan’s party he wanted a “party at home with a bouncy house” and that’s exactly what we did but  I’m pretty sure that the adults had more fun than the kids in the bounce house.

  For party food we grilled up some hamburgers and Applegate Farm sausages and served them with lettuce wraps, sliced tomato, and onions.  I also made my No Potato Salad which is always a huge hit.  For snacks before dinner we had guacamole, fruit, veggies, salami and cheese and corn chips. Corn chips and cheese are a safe party staple for us.  No one feels horrible if we eat a few chips and slices of cheese and it’s nice to have these alternatives for a “cheat meal” (although I hate that terminology) when we want to kick up our heels.

For Jaden’s party we went to our local gymnastics academy and several of his friends from school attended the party.  I was wondering how the cinnamon bun muffins made with almond meal and coconut flour would be accepted by a bunch of 3rd graders, especially topped with homemade cream cheese frosting that really wasn’t that sweet at all. Surprisingly, all but two of the muffins were devoured and this is from a group of kids who are most likely used to the conventional cupcake.  Hurray for real food!  The snacks at the party were a duplicate of what we had for Rowan’s party the previous day.

It was such a blast watching the kids run around and play and the highlight at the end was the awesome zip line!  Check out Kayden of Growing Up Paleo and Rowan taking on the zip line like the big kids. Even after Kayden’s spectacular landing, the first thing he said was, “Let’s do it again!!”

Overall, the parties were successful, the kids had a blast, and my little boys are another year older but somehow I’m still only 25.  Amazing how that works, isn’t it??

Happy birthdays to my sweet little Row Row and my big guy Jaden!

A Birthday Weekend!! is a post from Everyday Paleo - licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License

Last night I made a whole roasted chicken, tossed some cubed butternut squash in coconut oil and roasted that as well, and cooked some greens fresh from our CSA to make an amazingly easy and tasty side dish.  Here’s how I prepared the greens:

Good Greens

1 pound of bacon, diced

1 small red onion, sliced

2 cups sliced mushrooms

1 cup green beans, diced

2 bunches greens of your choice, finely diced (I used a huge bag of braising greens from my CSA which was a combo of kale, collards, and I think some turnip greens)

1 teaspoon rubbed sage

Black pepper to taste

In a large pan cook the bacon pieces and onion until the bacon starts to crisp.  Add the mushrooms and green beans and saute until the mushrooms are tender. Add the diced greens, sage and pepper and cook for another 3-4 minutes or until the greens are tender.

Enjoy!

Good Greens is a post from Everyday Paleo - licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License

Enjoy!

Jason’s Interview with Jimmy Moore is a post from Everyday Paleo - licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License

This recipe was inspired by a reader who emailed me a recipe that he created for a seafood curry that was served over roasted pumpkin.  Of course I can never leave anything alone so I revised his recipe to make this Creamy Pumpkin Curry. The whole family loved this savory fall soup and I hope your family does as well!

Creamy Pumpkin Curry

1 small sugar pumpkin

2 pounds of shrimp or other seafood/protein of your choice

2 carrots, sliced

1 medium yellow onion, diced

4 small zucchinis, diced

1 14oz can coconut milk – (make sure you have your coconut milk in the fridge a day ahead of time so that the coconut cream is solid on the top)

1 cup chicken stock

2 tablespoons coconut oil

1 teaspoon fresh grated ginger

1 teaspoon crushed garlic

1 teaspoon coriander

½ tablespoon turmeric powder

sea salt to taste

1) Preheat oven to 350. Cut the pumpkin in half and remove the seeds (save them for roasting).  Place the pumpkin cut side up in a glass baking dish with about a cup of water in the bottom of the dish and bake for 45 minutes – 1 hour.

2) In a large soup pot, saute the onion and carrots in the coconut oil over medium heat until the onions become translucent.

3) Turn up the heat on the onions and carrots to medium high, scoop out just the cream from the canned coconut milk and add to the hot soup pot.  Let it sizzle and stir until the cream is melted and mixed well with the onions and carrots.  Turn down to medium low and let it simmer.

4) While the coconut cream, onion and carrots are simmering, scoop the roasted pumpkin into a food processor or blender along with the remaining coconut water from the can, the chicken broth, and all of the spices.  Process or blend until completely smooth.

5) Add the zucchini to the soup pot and pour the pumpkin mixture into the pot as well.  Mix well and bring to a simmer.

6) Add the peeled and de-veined shrimp to the soup and cook until the shrimp are pink and firm (about 3-4 more minutes).  

7) Serve in bowls topped with  fresh diced cilantro.

If using a different protein, such as chicken, add the chicken in immediately after you add the coconut cream into the pot to give it enough time to cook prior to adding the zucchini and remaining ingredients.  Do not add at the same time as the zucchini or your zucchini will turn into mush. 

As always, enjoy!

Creamy Pumpkin Curry is a post from Everyday Paleo - licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License

Everyday Paleo and College Life

6 am wake up, go to school, study, do homework, group meetings, research papers, workout and cook paleo?! And I have a college student budget?! AHHH someone wake me up from this nightmare!!!!

College living is hard enough as it is, throw in paleo and you have a lot to juggle. I can’t tell you how many times I wished I could push the magic button and Rosie the Robot would show up and make me dinner. Considering we haven’t caught up with the Jetson’s, I guess I will have to make due with what is in my refrigerator and cabinets. Tonight it happened to be bratwursts, a white onion and a red bell pepper. Throw it all together and what do you get:

College Budget Bratwursts!

4 Bratwursts

1 white onion

1 red bell pepper

1 tablespoon coconut oil

2 tablespoons spicy brown mustard (or to taste)

3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

2 whole bay leaves

2 cloves minced garlic

½ tablespoon dried basil

¼ teaspoon ground ginger

Sea salt and pepper to taste

Slice up the onion and bell pepper and sauté over medium heat in the coconut oil along with the bay leaves, minced garlic, dried basil, ground ginger, and salt& pepper until the onion is translucent. Add bratwursts and cook for another 5 minutes. In a bowl mix balsamic and spicy brown mustard and whisk together. Pour over the brats and veggies mix and cook for another 10 minute.

Serving size: 1 brat and lots of veggies on top.

Fed: three college roommates with leftover’s (one brat and veggies)

Total cost of meal: $11/ 2.75 a person

Everyday Paleo and College Life – by Erika Schuler is a post from Everyday Paleo - licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License

*Enjoy another great post from Katie of Wellness Mama!!

Beauty products and toiletries are a major source of chemical exposure for a lot of people. From parabens in make-up and shampoo to sulfates/sulfites in everything from lotion to toothpaste, chemicals can be hard to escape!

Fortunately, there are some easy and natural options for most beauty products, and many can be found in your kitchen!

Natural Lotion:

-Use Coconut Oil straight or in combination with Almond Oil for an extremely moisturizing and firming option. Consuming enough healthy fats like coconut oil internally will also help moisturize from the inside out.

This works for supermodels too!

Oil Cleansing for face:

-Use olive, coconut or almond oil with Castor oil to clean your skin instead of a harsh soap. This will cleanse your skin naturally and keep from pulling out natural oils. My personal blend is 25% Castor Oil (don’t use straight!) and 75% sweet almond oil.

How to do it: Rub a small amount of oil onto dry face and massage into skin for several minutes. To remove, Soak a clean washcloth in steamy water and place on face until it starts to cool. Gently use the washcloth to wipe your face until the oil is gone. Softest. Skin. Ever! Here’s a website with much more detailed info if you are interested.

Natural Make-up and Mascara Remover:

-Olive and Coconut Oils are great for naturally and safely removing make-up and mascara, even waterproof versions. Added benefit: helps smooth or prevent wrinkles around the eyes!

Natural Sugar Scrub:

Sugar is not good for your body. It is, however, great for your skin! Since your skin doesn’t metabolize and store glucose or fructose like your fat cells do, sugar is a great way to tighten and smooth skin! Sugar scrubs in stores are expensive! Sugar scrubs in the kitchen are not!

How to do it: Mix equal parts of white or brown sugar and olive or almond oil and add essential oils of choice (optional). To exfoliate skin, rub the mixture onto skin and massage in for a couple of minutes. Rinse off with warm water. Enjoy!

Natural Hairspray:

-Juicing a lemon and mixing with a couple cups of water in a spray bottle makes a simple hair spray. It works, but has to be stored in the fridge.

-An easier recipe is to mix a cup of boiling water with 1-4 teaspoons of sugar (depending on the level of hold you want). Stir and let sugar dissolve completely and pour into a fine mister bottle. This will hold hair and make it shine. For difficult hair, let first application dry and apply another application.

-For the natural beach waves look, make the above recipe with salt instead. This will give a flexible hold without being dull at all. Supposedly, top stylists are turning to sea salt products lately too.

Natural Exfoliation:

Ever seen those ads for microdermabrasion (not even sure I’m spelling it right!). Well, they look expensive and I’m leery of the chemicals they might contain. No worries though… the kitchen can help! Baking soda is a very effective natural and gentle abrasive that pulls off dead skin cells and makes skin glow!

How to Do It: Wet face with warm water. Pour some baking soda into hands and massage into your face for at least 3 minutes. It will sting a little (its called abrasion!). Rinse with warm water and pat dry.

Natural Intensive Hair Conditioner:

Mix one ripe banana and half of an avocado and puree until smooth. Massage into hair and comb through. Leave on with a shower cap for at least 15 minutes for shiny hair. Use some essential oils if banana isn’t your favorite fragrance!

Natural Skin Bronzers:

Until I switched to eating healthy, I never tanned well at all! I used to try all kinds of natural “bronzers” and self tanning lotions (cringe on the ingredients!) in hopes of golden skin. Now, I’m excited to be able to tan easily, but for days when I want a slightly more bronze look, I head to the kitchen…

How to Do It: Mix cocoa powder, cinnamon and arrowroot (optional) until you get a shade you like. For me, this was at least half cocoa powder, about 30-40% cinnamon and a little arrowroot, but experiment to get your skin tone. Store in a small jar or container and brush onto skin for an instant bronze look. Bonus: it smells good! You can also mix this into lotion for a liquid version!

What are your natural beauty secrets? Share below!

Natural Beauty Options is a post from Everyday Paleo - licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License

Today I’m going to attempt to help folks understand the basic biochemistry involved in fat storage and loss.  I said attempt because I am a geek and this stuff gets pretty geeky, and I said basic because nearly everything I type from here forward will be a huge oversimplification of the amazing biochemical symphony taking place in these processes.

Let’s pretend you have not heard of Everyday Paleo yet.  You are still “doing” diets instead of eating like a human.  Your head is still full of myth and fable grounded in anything but actual science.  Prior to Everyday Paleo, your typical day might have looked like this:

Oatmeal for breakfast.
Fat Free/Sugar Free Coffee-like Substance at your mid morning slump.
Subway sandwich for lunch because you want to be like Jared.
Bagel, granola, or other such processed carbs (or maybe another sugar-laden caffeinated beverage) to fight the afternoon slump.
Pasta or rice at dinner.
Something crunchy or sweet between 8 and 10 pm.

Carbohydrate is converted to glucose (blood sugar), so each one of these meals causes a nice bolus of glucose to enter your blood stream very quickly.  Your body closely regulates glucose to keep it within a safe range – not too high and not too low.  After you consume easily digestible carbohydrates like the ones on your daily menu above, your pancreas must secrete insulin to mitigate the resulting elevated glucose.  Insulin’s job is primarily to feed the glucose in your blood stream to hungry cells and then send the leftovers to the liver to be turned into triglycerides for storage in your fat cells.  Are you still with me?  Take a deep breath.  Maybe do a few squats.  Okay, let’s keep moving.  We need to dig deeper.

The story so far:  carbs are eaten and broken down to glucose, insulin sends glucose to your cells to be used as energy or to the liver for a quick composition change so it can be stored as fat.

Moving on.  Since your Standard American Diet (SAD) is nowhere near natural because of all those processed carbs, glucose and insulin remain high throughout your day.  This can eventually lead to insulin resistance in those cells that use glucose as energy.  Insulin resistance is when insulin is ever present and its “I come bearing food” signal to the cells is reduced to a whisper and then finally ignored.  This means your pancreas must produce more insulin to get the same job done, and this in turn means that insulin is ever present in greater quantities.  If you have managed to make sense of all this so far, you can see that you are amassing more and more insulin in your blood stream.  I’m about to explain why this is a problem, but you might want to do a few more squats first.

Hyperinsulinemia, this state of elevated insulin you have created by this point, is bad.  Very bad.  Robb Wolf once suggested that you can Google hyperinsulinemia and any noninfectious disease that comes to mind and you will at least find strong correlations in more links than you would ever take the time to read.  When insulin hangs around too often, it also means you store a lot of fat and have trouble using fat as energy.  This is because insulin is your body’s primary storage hormone.  Here’s how it works (take another deep breath):

High levels of glucose in the blood stream are toxic, just ask a type 1 diabetic.  As I said above, your body devotes a lot of energy to keeping glucose within a fairly tight range.  This means glucose is used for energy before fatty acids because it can’t be allowed to hang out and cause problems.  You can only store a small amount of glucose (as glycogen), but a nearly unlimited amount of fat can be stored, much to the dismay of your buns and thighs.  This is why the liver converts the extra glucose to triglycerides and ships it off to be stored in the fat cells.

Okay, we have finally come to the point of this whole sermon.  At the fat cell, an enzyme called lipoprotein lipase (LPL) acts as the doorman, ushering fatty acids into the fat cells.  Inside the fat cell, another enzyme, hormone sensitive lipase (HSL), has the job of cleaving the first sulfide bond on the triglycerides and releasing fatty acids to be used as energy.  So LPL is working when you are storing fat and HSL is working when you are “burning” fat.  Here’s the rub – both of these enzymes are sensitive to the presence of insulin.  When insulin  is present, LPL is on duty and you are storing fat.  When insulin is gone, HSL is on duty and you are using your stored fat as energy.  If you understand the story so far, this process makes perfect sense.  Since we know that glucose can’t be allowed to hang out and it must be used first, we also know that there is no reason to access stored fat in the presence of glucose and, therefore, insulin.  When insulin is in the blood stream, the message is clear – you have glucose to take care of before you use your stored fat.  Now it’s easy to see why hyperinsulinemia and insulin resistance are a problem.  They keep you in fat storage mode, without the ability to access your stored fat for energy, for plenty of time to make you plump and squishy.

Please don’t misunderstand, I am not trying to paint carbohydrates and insulin as villains.  They are a normal and natural part of human nutrition and biochemistry.  What is not normal is our mass consumption of processed carbohydrates, both in unnatural forms and in never ending supply regardless of season.  A solid paleo diet, along with proper exercise, will make you healthier and leaner by giving you back insulin sensitivity and helping you re-adapt to using your stored fat as energy so your fat cells can go back to being the batteries they are suppose to be instead of the warehouses they have become.

If you don’t completely hate me by now, stay tuned for how all this correlates to cravings.

Go forth and be awesome.

Sugar, Insulin Resistance, and Fat Loss – By Jason Seib is a post from Everyday Paleo - licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License

As parents living a paleo lifestyle, Halloween can be much more frightening than the expected glowing skeletons, howling ghosts, and silly monsters.  Halloween is scary because of the mountains of high fructose corn syrup and unidentifiable ingredient laden CANDY!!!  Around this time every year my inbox fills up with questions regarding what to do about Trick or Treating, kids, and the typical sugar battles that go along with Halloween.

First, I’ll share with you how we have celebrated Halloween during our paleo years and I’ll also include some new tips and resources that I’m sure will prove useful as you plan for what should be a day filled with fun and fantasy, not tantrums and tummy aches.

The Fragoso Plan:  We do the typical pumpkin carving, dressing up, and trick or treating, but with a twist!  In the days leading up to Halloween, we make a traditional trip to our local pumpkin patch with the emphasis on having fun together as a family.  We pull each other in the wagons, jump in the bounce house, feed the animals, race through the hay bales, and of course wander through the pumpkins and pick out our favorites.

Instead of baking halloween cookies and filling up on candy, we make popcorn balls and roasted pumpkin seeds with the boys, prior to heading out to tour our neighborhood.  My mom started the pumpkin seed and popcorn ball tradition when we were kids; you see, she was not a candy fanatic either and we lived so far out in the country, trick or treating was not even an option, so every year we would look forward to making the gooey treats.

I know that popcorn, and most definitely popcorn balls do not necessarilly fall into the list of what folks consider to be “paleo” but on Halloween and as an alternative to the hoards of garbage that is typically consumed, a popcorn ball made with love, honey, and molasess is a lesser evil in my opinion and a fun way to continue my childhood tradition with my own kids.  Here is the recipe that we use:

Popcorn Balls

1/3 cup light molasses

 1/3 cup water

1 tablespoon grass fed butter (we use Kerrygold)

1) In a saucepan combine the honey, molasses and water and cook slowly over medium low heat, stirring constantly until the temp on your candy thermometer reaches 250.

2) Add the butter and stir in until melted.

3) Have the popped popcorn ready in a large bowl and evenly pour the syrup over the popcorn and mix well with a spoon.

4) Once the syrup has cooled, grease your hands (and the kids hands) with more butter and form the sticky popcorn into balls!!

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

Remove the seeds from your carved pumpkin, wash off all the goo and dry with paper towels

Sea salt to taste

1) Preheat your oven to 350.

2) Spread the seeds evenly on a baking sheet and sprinkle with sea salt.

3) Bake for about 5 minutes, or just until the seeds start to turn toasty.  Watch them carefully, they will burn quickly!!

For trick or treating, my kids almost, just almost like to hand stuff out just as much as they like to go trick or treating.  We will hand out pencils, erasers, bracelets, or other fun little toys all found at the Dollar store.  Yup, we are that family who does not had out candy but we haven’t yet had our house egged or kids run off crying.  In fact the response is typically, “Cool!!” or “Thank You!!”

When we go trick or treating we simply have a 2 piece of candy rule.  Maybe that sounds cruel but after popcorn balls, dressing up, carving pumpkins, and handing out treats, the kids simply know the routine at this point and are not all that excited about the candy that is so foreign to them anyway.  The rest either goes in the garbage or is donated the next day at Jaden’s school in exchange for a book.

This year I am considering changing up our typical routine just slightly by using an idea from Peggy of Primal Parent.   Peggy contributed an outstanding article to the latest issue of Paleo Magazine which was dedicated to ideas for paleo parents to make Halloween fun and survivable.  For her little one, Peggy purchases candy that is more acceptable such as organic dark chocolates, crsytallized ginger, small packages of nuts and dried fruits, honey sticks, and other more natural treats.  After an evening of trick or treating she will either simply dump the bad stuff in the trash and make a switch to the better stuff (which would probably go totally unnoticed by tiny tots) or for older kids, her idea is to set up shop and have your child trade the bad stuff for the good stuff.  For example, it will cost your child 5 pieces of junk candy for 2 pieces of dark chocolate.  Turn it into a fun game of “store” and say goodbye to the tummy aches!  I think I’ll try this plan with my Rowan and Jaden this year, they both love to play fantasy games and a Halloween game of store and trading and bartering might be extremely fun and a new twist to our old routine.

Coby, my oldest son, simply tossed his candy last year except for a piece or two and this year at the ripe old age of 16 he plans to hang out with his buddy and they will help us take the little guys out around the neighborhood.   Coby is also working on a blog post to share with a teenagers perspective on living paleo so stay tuned for that special article coming soon!

I hope this post helps to make what should be a fun filled holiday a little bit more stress free and enjoyable.

As always, enjoy!

Surviving Halloween! is a post from Everyday Paleo - licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License

If you are searching for an easy and tasty dessert; look no further!  While Sarah was away last week I wanted to fix a special treat for the boys and so I came up with Grilled Bananas!  The grill is my domain, it’s where I feel the most comfortable cooking and I realized I could easily incorporate my favorite cooking tool into a “dad’s dessert station.”

In the Paleo world many folks are stumped as to what they can make for dessert without the introduction of sugars or artificial sweeteners. The reality is; fruit provides enough natural sweetness and there is no need to look any further.  This particular recipe is about as easy as it comes and is definitely kid approved.  You need about 15 minutes of your time and a whole 2 ingredients (banana’s and cinammon), well one other important tool is needed, the grill!

I hope you all enjoy this easy yet satisfying recipe.

note:  You could take this a step further and whip up some heavy cream and finely chop some walnuts or almonds to create a Banana split of sorts.

Grilled Bananas

2 bananas, quartered LEAVE PEELS ON

Cinnamon

Coconut oil (if desired)

Brush the open side of the banana with coconut oil if desired then sprinkle on cinnamon to taste.  Grill open side down (peel up) for 2-4 minutes, flip and grill peel down for another 2-4 minutes or until the peel starts to separate from the fruit.  Remove from the grill and serve.  It’s fun to eat it right out of the peel.

Enjoy!

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Grilled Bananas – Posted by John! is a post from Everyday Paleo - licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License

I am beyond excited to announce that my new book, Paleo Pals: Jimmy and the Carrot Rocket Ship is now available for pre-order on Amazon!! Release date is scheduled for February 7th, 2012. I was inspired by my mom, Carol Purdy, to write this book.  My mom was a children’s book author and her spirit has been my bright light during this amazing journey.

As you all know I often blog, talk, podcast, and scream from the hilltops about the importance of kiddos eating paleo and how to get them involved, excited, and enjoying a paleo lifestyle. The reality is, making the transition to paleo for the family is hard work and can be daunting to say the very least and I realize that parents need a resource, a story, a hero if you will to help the kids get excited about this major life change. That’s where the Paleo Pals book comes in.  The Paleo Pals are three superhero children who come to the rescue when kids aren’t sure about eating paleo foods and they arrived determined and able to help! Here is the description of the story:

Introducing My New Book – Paleo Pals: Jimmy and the Carrot Rocket Ship is a post from Everyday Paleo - licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License

First, I must say that it’s wonderful to be home and I am so proud of my little family for doing such an amazing job of keeping the blog and my Facebook page up and running in my absence!  Now on to some food – Summer Squash Soup!!

Jaden’s response to this dish, “It’s way better than it looks; it’s actually delicious!” Almost 4 year old Rowan’s comment was, “This soup is yummy!”  The teenager Coby’s thoughts, “Really good mom!” I have to agree with Jaden, this soup is deceivingly tasty despite it’s crazy green hue.  It’s now officially my new favorite soup at the moment and next time I’ll add some shredded chicken on top to make it a meal all on it’s own!

My inspiration for this summer squash soup was brought on by the abundance of summer squash we have been receiving from our CSA and I needed a new way to eat up our end of summer bounty.

Here is the recipe!

Summer Squash Soup

3 large zucchinis or other summer squash, cut into large chunks

1 1/2 cups chicken broth

2 medium sized leeks, diced

3 tablespoons grass fed butter or clarified butter (or another cooking oil of your choice)

1 teaspoon crushed garlic

Sea salt and black pepper to taste

1. In a pressure cooker add the zucchini and chicken broth and bring up to pressure.  Cook for 2-3 minutes, remove from heat and immediately run the pressure cooker and cold water until the pressure is realeased.  If you do not have a pressure cooker, simply boil the zucchini in the chicken broth in a covered pot until the zucchini is soft.

2. While the zucchini is cooking, melt the butter in a soup pot and start sauteing the diced leeks.  Once the leeks are soft, add the garlic and saute for another 2-3 minutes.

3. Add the cooked zucchini and the cooking liquid into a food processor.  Add about half the garlic and leek mixture to the food processor as well and blend until totally smooth.

4. Add the blended soup back to the remaining leek and garlic mixture in the soup pot and bring to a simmer.

5. Season with sea salt and black pepper to taste and serve (I even added another couple tablespoons of grass fed butter at the end as well for some extra flavor and fat)!

As always, enjoy!

Summer Squash Soup is a post from Everyday Paleo - licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License

I love the term “able-bodied”.  The U.S. military uses it to define individuals who are fit enough to serve, but used outside the context of a specific organization or task it would simply mean “fit”, except that nobody is in the habit of confusing able-bodied with “not over-weight”.  Able-bodied implies well rounded physical capacity, or a body that can get stuff done.

If you only think of a certain body shape when you picture yourself fit, I would like to expand your definition of fitness to include able-bodied.  I have adamantly fought for a focus-on-health-and-get-hot-by-accident perspective in previous posts and I think the next logical expansion of this concept is physical capacity.  Although some may argue, I am positing that a body must perform well to be graded at the highest levels of health.  The opposite of this ideal, taken to extreme, would mean a body could be deemed healthy without the ability to move at all.

If you are new to all of this, you are probably in need of some good benchmark long term goals because it is quite common to drastically underestimate what you will be able to achieve.  Without using any mathematical calculations, I’m going to give you some estimated ranges of capacity for the members of my gym so you can see what other people like you have accomplished.  My gym is not comprised of athletes and we are not a CrossFit or any other sort of competitive environment.  We pride ourselves in training normal people to extraordinary results.  The examples I am giving you here are attainable and I want you to have them.  Because we train regular folk, we don’t really see much of a difference in potential for younger and older clients.  Age is not an excuse in our gym, and the worst injuries we have seen in almost 4 years and thousands of workouts are a hernia caused by a preexisting condition, a few pulled hamstrings, and a minor biceps tear.

Our estimated back squat average for women is 150 – 180 lbs, and 285 – 325 lbs for men.

Our estimated deadlift average for women is 185 -225 lbs, and 295 – 355 lbs for men.

Our estimated shoulder press average for women is 55 – 85 lbs, and 120 – 155 lbs for men.

Our estimated average 400 meter run is 1:35 – 1:55 for women, and 1:15 – 1:35 for men.

About 30% of our women and 80% of our men achieve strict pull-ups.

Our average woman can perform 20 -30 consecutive push-ups on her knees with no breaks.  Our average man can do the same on his toes.

Our average member has no problem with a 24″ box jump.

Our average member can perform 50 body weight squats in under 1:30.

Hopefully this gives you some goals to shoot for.  The most important thing you can do is keep your head clear of self imposed obstacles and unsubstantiated excuses.  Just shoot for the stars and see where you end up.

Here’s Debbie (not to be confused with Deb) with some motivation for you.  Debbie is 55 years young and doesn’t know the meaning of the word “excuse”.

Remember to keep me posted on your progress by hitting me up on Facebook.  Go forth and be awesome!

Able-Bodied is a post from Everyday Paleo - licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License