Hello readers and listeners. It has been a long LONG time since the three of us have been in the same room to record one of these things. For episode 24, we simply go over what we have been up to for the past 5 months. Playing a little catch-up and keeping it light. It’s good to (hopefully) be back. Send in those questions and comments and you’ll be hearing from us again real soon.

Paleo Talk Episode 24 is a post from Everyday Paleo - licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License

To wrap up the weekend in Seattle, on Sunday May 20 at 5:00p.m., there will be a catered banquet that is open to the public.  During the banquet there will be entertainment, speakers (myself included), and prizes.  For more details and to register, please click here. I hope to see you there!

You are Cordially Invited! Primal Chef Banquet in Seattle, WA on May 20! is a post from Everyday Paleo - licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License

So, let me guess.

You know lack of sleep leads to hormone disregulation and increased cortisol. You’ve read that Robb Wolf says “Just one night of missed or inadequate sleep is sufficient to make you as insulin resistant as a type 2 diabetic.” You know it leads to possible weight-gain plus you just feel plain crappy.

But you’re still sleep deprived.

You delay bedtime by procrastinating, fall asleep early in the evening then wake up, and maintain habits that are the antithesis to a good night’s sleep. And then you feel awful in the morning.

That’s not paleo, you know. We need to get a restful night’s sleep. It is essential for our health, our thinking, our weight-loss.

But what to do? How do you shove yourself off the sofa and get yourself off to bed on time? Try these 15 tips:

1. Set yourself a bedtime. Seems simple but so many people don’t give themselves a deadline. They spin it out for as long as they can. It’s so easy now that we have light and distractions twenty-four hours a day. But instead, tell yourself you will go to bed at a certain hour and plan backwards from there. And keep the same bedtime night after night.

2. Stop lights and major action one hour before bedtime. Dim the lights, slow your activity. Don’t watch TV. I read by torchlight – this way I’m winding down towards sleep and my body is mostly in darkness, making the melatonin that will send me to sleep.

3. Get ready for bed early. We often stay up because we’re too tired to go to bed! We often snack for that reason too – we eat to give us the energy to stay up. Perverse when you think about it. Get into your bedclothes, clean your teeth, take out your contacts. Whatever you do before bed, do it well before bedtime so you’re ready to just fall into it when the time comes.

4. Know your caffeine limit. When I drank caffeine, I couldn’t drink it past 4pm or it would keep me awake. Chocolate in the evening also did the same thing. If you are a person kept awake by caffeine, know your limit and keep to it. Same goes for alcohol.

5. Think ahead to the next morning. Remind yourself how it will feel to wake up refreshed, without an alarm, getting ready for work without a rush, with time to make breakfast and keep a calm family. The benefits of a good night’s sleep are enormous and the avoidance of early morning stress is huge for the family unity.

6. Create a bedtime ritual. Make it the same every night. It can be a ten-minute getting the house ready for the next morning, setting breakfast, a hot drink, a book, dim lights, bed. Whatever works for you but keep it the same night after night.

7. Get up at the same time each day. No matter what time you go to bed, get your day started on the same schedule every day. Routine, routine, routine. Plus, your wake-up time determines your bedtime sleepiness. Don’t put it off.

8. To adjust to daylight savings, alter your bedtime by 15 minutes each day for four days. Too often we are discombobulated by daylight savings. This is what I did with my kids when they were little and it works great for adults too!

9. If you get sluggish after dinner, do something slightly stimulating. It will keep you awake – try picking up toys or washing dishes. Whatever you do, don’t fall asleep early in the evening only to wake later shortly before your bedtime. If you tend to fall asleep with your kids, keep yourself upright and leave them if you notice yourself getting sleepy (or simply sleep on their schedule, if that works for you. )

10. Exercise (or not.) For some it helps to exercise before bed, for others it keeps them awake. It doesn’t make any difference to me but if I struggle to get to sleep, this exercise helps me every time. I’m asleep in minutes.

11. Blackout the room. Melatonin, the hormone that induces drowsiness, is produced on darkness. Blue light inhibits production of the hormone so no strong light bulbs, TV, laptops in bed – that kind of thing. Cover the windows to prevent light pollution from outside. And if you use an electronic reader make sure it doesn’t use light that will disrupt your sleep.

12. Take melatonin as a supplement for jetlag. I often travel to Europe and the time change can be a bear. My trips are often short and I can be jet-lagged the whole time I am there so I take 3mg of melatonin before bedtime. It is pretty quick acting and makes me feel drowsy enough to sleep. That way, I offset some of the effects of the 8-hour time difference and can hit the ground running.

13. Use an alarm! I hate alarms to wake me up and haven’t used one in years but I do use an alarm to tell me to go to sleep. I have a timer I carry around and when it goes off (in a non-startling way,) it triggers me to pack up what I’m doing and head off to bed.

14. Use an app. There’s an app for everything including getting yourself to sleep. Guided meditations, soundtracks, breathing cues – there’s something for everyone. If you are a smartphone junkie, this may be just your thing. 

15. Give sleep priority in your life. Some people think sleep is a waste of time. There’s also a thought process in our society that being able to live with less sleep is a noble endeavor enabling you to do more, (and therefore be more.) I argue against that. If you can somehow truly thrive on just a few hours sleep, well, I guess that’s great. But if you can’t and you need more, then make it a priority. It serves no-one to skimp on sleep. Studies have shown over and over how important sleep is for our health. It’s more important than your Facebook friends, cleaning up,  and your favorite TV. So make a date with yourself. In bed.

Is lack of sleep a problem for you? What have you done to combat it? Let us know in the comments!

Alison Golden has two kids, two cats, but only one husband who thankfully agrees with her on everything, eventually. She likes to get lots of sleep and blogs about living paleo in a non-paleo world over at PaleoNonPaleo.

Get Your SLEEP!!! is a post from Everyday Paleo - licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License

In late February of 2012 was my four year anniversary of living Paleo.  For the first year, I was very focused.  I would wake up in the morning and think about how my day would look, how I would manage breakfast, lunch, AND dinner, and how I would tackle any adversity, problems, or temptations that came my way.  BUT, I was determined.  You can see my before and after pictures here and read a bit more about my journey but in a nutshell, I wanted so badly to feel good that I was willing to push through what was one of the more challenging and yet rewarding years of my life.

After that first year of very hard work, I was transformed.  I no longer woke up wondering, I began to finally LIVE!!!

I was so inspired and excited by my journey that I jumped at the opportunity to become a strength and conditioning coach at Norcal Strength and Conditioning and I shelved my dreams of becoming a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and realized that I was meant to help people who like myself prior to paleo, were searching for what “healthy” really felt like.  I wanted to intertwine what I knew about children, psychology, fitness, and paleo and shout from the rooftops that I think I had something figured out!!!

Next, I rekindled my love for cooking! As a child I was my mom’s constant cooking companion and had always been comfortable in the kitchen. Eating paleo forces you to find skills to make food that isn’t straight from a box, and I was glad that I had a few of those skills stored away.  So, with encouragement from Robb, I started this little blog.  Of course; being that I was incredibly technologically deficient I needed some help with the blog starting process and out of the clouds dropped my workout buddy and angel Dain, who said, “Sure, I can help,”  and the next thing you know, people actually began paying attention!

I’ll never forget that call from Dain when he said to me, Holy S*#@ Sarah, people are reading your blog!!!  In fact, a LOT of people are reading your blog!

I was humbled. Scared. Excited. Grateful.

Fast forward to year 2 and I met with this guy named Erich who owns this cool publishing company called Victory Belt and I showed him some of the stuff I had been writing that I hoped someday would be an E-Book that I could offer to my blog readers.  He liked what he read and suggested that I could write a REAL BOOK if I was interested!  I nearly fell on the floor; and the work began.  I am so proud of my first book, Everyday Paleo.  

My husband John and I and our boys, Coby, Jaden, and little Rowan all worked so hard to create Everyday Paleo.  We cooked together, my husband took all of the pictures, and we worked late into the evening and jumped out of bed at the crack of dawn to get this project done and ready for all of you.  I wanted badly to share what had made us all incredibly healthy.  I’m still humbled by the opportunity.  I know how hard it can be to get a book published.

My mom was a children’s book author and it took her almost 15 years to get her first book published and she was a damn good writer.  I will never forget the day we danced together in the driveway as she held the letter above her head from Puffin, the publisher who decided that my mom had a great story to tell; so much so that they asked the amazing Steven Kellogg to illustrate her first book!  Here’s a link that will take to you an article written in my mom’s own words about her experience as an author.

I sometimes dream of that day, my mom smiling and laughing and I felt so proud and warm inside, knowing that my mom’s hard work had paid off.  I’ll never take for granted that moment.  I wish that my mom was here to share this journey with me and she remains in my heart as my constant strength and inspiration.

Fast forward to today. I have so many amazing contributors that make Everyday Paleo what it is today.  John and I met Jason Seib and together we created Everyday Paleo LIfestyle and Fitness, another avenue that is reaching folks who are ready to take things to the next level.  Next I  met Katie of Wellness Mama who is now part of the team and fills a much needed gap with her awesome articles.  Erika is on board, showing us that on a budget, in college, and with little time to spare, there is NO excuse to avoid living paleo!  Finally, Lisa has been sharing her paleo journey with all of us and now has her own Facebook page. And I now have Dana, my amazing Director of Operations who still needs to give me a picture and bio to put up on my about page.  Maybe reading this will give Dana some motivation to get that over to me ASAP so all of you can put a face to the name that has been responding to your emails!!

To wrap it all up, I’m not sure what else I can do but say a huge thanks to all of YOU.

I have been very busy with Paleo Pals, a project near and dear to my heart – I wrote this book for my little boys with hopes that your kids would enjoy and embrace the story as well.  I also have another cookbook coming out in July, The Everyday Paleo Family Cookbook, and I’m working on a second edition to my current best seller, Everyday Paleo.  The work never seems to end but I embrace each day with gratitude and hope that lives are changing.

Tonight, as I write this blog, I celebrate 4 years of really living and to wherever you might be in your journey, please know that you are NOT alone!! I realize that being able to share my paleo journey is something that not so very long ago, I could have never imagined possible.  So once again, thank you, be well, and as always, enjoy.

4 Years of Living – Paleo is a post from Everyday Paleo - licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License

* Here’s another budget friendly recipe by Erika, our college student contributor to Everyday Paleo!  

Note from Sarah: The cost per person for this meal is based on folks who would have to purchase an entire bottle of olive oil, vinegar, and mustard and also if they purchased the more expensive brands available.  Furthermore, this meal although MADE for 2 people would most likely produce leftovers or feed at least 3. Erika has posted budget friendly recipes in the past and has left OUT the cost of staple ingredients and has been given grief for leaving those items out. Also, these reflect HER costs.  I’m sure that many of you will be able to find better deals.  I also am assuming that she bought an entire package of zucchini from Trader Joe’s and only 3 zucchinis would probably only cost around $1 or $2.  If you have on hand olive oil, vinegar, and mustard and you spend the SAME amount as Erika did on her other items, the actual cost of this meal per person for the Chicken and the Vegetables together would be around $8.50 plus leftovers, or a meal for another person.  Also, think about all the money that Erika is SAVING by walking home on her break and cooking rather then driving to an eating establishment and spending way more than the cost of this meal and not having any leftovers for later and also eating less healthy options. The cost at the bottom of this post reflects the cost of ALL ingredients, including oil, vinegar, and mustard.

Thank you so much Erika for taking time out of your busy college schedule to show us how this can be done!!

Balsamic Mustard Chicken and Oven Roasted Veggies

Here is another quick and easy meal for two on a budget! Talk about simple and yummy I put this meal together in 20 minutes while I was in between my classes. Luckily I live close enough to school that I can walk home during my inconvenient hour long breaks. I used simple ingredients that I always have stocked up in my pantry and put them together with the fresh veggies and meat I had in my refrigerator from my Sunday stock up shopping trip. Today’s ingredients included: chicken breast, bacon, Brussels sprouts, zucchini, balsamic (I find I love to cook with balsamic I love the tangy flavor it adds) spicy brown mustard, extra virgin olive oil, crushed garlic, and salt and pepper!

Balsamic Mustard Chicken

2 boneless skinless chicken breast (each cut in half long way) (5.97)

1/4 cup Balsamic (3.89)

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil (3.99)

3 cloves of minced (or chopped) garlic (.50)

2 1/2 tablespoons spicy brown mustard (2.59)

Salt and pepper to taste

Rinse off your chicken breast and place them on a cutting board season both sides with salt and pepper to your liking. Place them in a ziplock bag add the balsamic, extra virgin olive oil, spicy brown mustard and garlic. Zip up the bag and massage the chicken in the bag to ensure it all gets coated nicely! place in the refrigerator and let marinade for as long as you want (mine marinated for about 3 hours, the longer the better).

Cooking the chicken:

I like to use a medium size sauce pan; place it on medium high heat and let the pan get nice and hot! Put just a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, place your chicken breast in the pan  and brown on both sides. Once you have browned both sides you can turn your heat down just a little to about medium and add in some of the marinade juices cover with a lid and let the juices reduce down in the pan with the chicken. Occasionally checking on the chicken and stirring around the sauce to make sure to pick up all the yummy chicken bits on the bottom of the pan until the chicken is fully cooked and no longer pink on the inside (you can flip the chicken one more time if you would like).

Oven Roasted Bacon Veggies 

11 strips of your favorite bacon (one package) (5.49)

3 zucchini’s (4 if they are smaller) (3.68)

1/2 lb of Brussels sprouts (1.49)

extra virgin olive oil (not included in cost because you needed it for the chicken)

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Cut your bacon into bit size pieces and fry them up till they are nice and crispy.  When they are done cooking set the bacon pieces on a paper towel lined plate to soak up the left over bacon grease and set them aside.

Next, wash and dry your veggies. Cut the Brussels sprouts in half place on a cookie sheet  that is already covered in foil (easy clean up!!).  Next cut the end of of your zucchini’s cut them in half length wise then cut them into half circle shapes and place them on your cookie sheet with your Brussels sprouts. Drizzle with olive oil and roast in the oven at 350 for about 20-30 minutes or until they are starting to get a little golden brown color to them and the Brussels sprouts are tender. For the last 5 minutes you can add your bacon on top of your veggies just to rewarm your bacon. When the veggies are done take them out and sprinkle them with salt and pepper to taste.

Total Cost of both Chicken and Veggies: 27.60 

serves 2-3: 13.80 

(These prices will vary dependent on where you shop and whether or not you already have some of the staple items already in your pantry. I included the prices for all ingredients, as if no one had  any of the ingredients on hand except for salt and pepper)

Happy Cooking

Erika

Budget Friendly Balsamic Mustard Chicken and Oven Roasted Veggies is a post from Everyday Paleo - licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License

*Please note, none of the companies or products  mentioned in this post asked me or paid me to write this blog post, these are all items that I use and trust personally and feel happy to recommend all on my own doing in hopes that this helps all of you!

Grass Fed/Pasture Raised Meats and Eggs:

US Wellness Meats

TX Bar Organics (Yes, it says “organic” but this beef is grass fed AND finished!!)

Grass Fed Traditions (Soy Free Eggs and Grass Fed Meat Options)

EatWild.com (search your area for local suppliers)

Coconut Oil, Jarred Tomato Product, Spices, Skin Care, etc…

Tropical Traditions

Hands down best coconut oil I have ever tried and if you look at the sidebar on the left and do some exploring you’ll find organic strained tomatoes, tomato paste, sun dried tomatoes, spices, coconut flakes, lotions, soaps and much more!

I love using their tomato products as they all come in glass jars and I can avoid cans!!  I am in no way a freak about always avoiding BPA and will still use canned tomatoes here and there as well as canned coconut milk (more on that later) but it’s nice to have options.  If you read this article, I mirror her sentiments on the subject of BPA.

Penzeys Spices (Always fresh and tons of options!!)

Simply Organic (Lots of selection and good quality!)

Canned Full Fat Coconut Milk

Native Forest (Claims to not use BPA in their cans but more than that, I just like the stuff)

Thai Kitchen (Love how thick and creamy this brand is and it’s easy to find in most major grocery stores!)

Chaokoh (Like Thai Kitchen, yummy, fatty, coconut goodness)

Soy Sauce Replacement

Coconut Secret Coconut Aminos

Bragg Liquid Aminos (Yes, it’s soy based but it’s gluten free and fermented soy does not tend to be as problematic for folks, unlike other soy products. Overall, I highly recommend to avoid soy but a couple occasional tablespoons of fermented soy like Bragg Liquid Aminos for most folks is fine. BUT, like with anything else, if you can’t tolerate it, don’t eat it! Read this article for more information soy in general in which Mark also talks about fermented soy.)

Fish Sauce

Red Boat Fish Sauce (The awesome blogger over at NomNom Paleo turned me on to this stuff and I never looked back!  I use it religiously to season my stir fry and curries.)

Kids Lunch Containers 

Planet Box (Jaden’s all time FAVORITE lunch box.  It’s sturdy, cute, and doesn’t spill all over the place. HIGHLY recommended for your school age kiddos)

Lunch Bots (I use these to pack Rowan’s snacks in for on the go!)

Klean Kanteen Insulated Thermos (Really and truly keeps hot stuff hot and cold stuff cold for HOURS!!)

Beef Jerky

Steve’s Originals (I simply would die without it. Period.)

US Wellness Meats (Their Beef Snack Sticks are yummy!!)

Community Shared Agriculture

GRUB (Where I get my veggies in good ol’ Chico CA)

Local Harvest (Where you can find a CSA near you and any farmer’s markets in your area!)

Almond Butter

Ammin Nut Company (a local Chico family making the best darn almond butter I have EVER had in my life. I have to make myself stop from eating the whole jar with a spoon. Consider yourself warned.)

Olive Oil

Bionaturae (Another one to add to the shopping cart thanks to Tropical Traditions)

Isern & Sons

Bacon, Sausage & Deli Meats

US Wellness Meats

Niman Ranch

Applegate Farms

So that just about wraps it up.  I’m sure I have left something off so post to comments your questions about anything I may have missed and we will round this post out by filling in any blanks by YOU!  What are YOUR favorite go to paleo supplies?

Recommended Food Suppliers and Brands is a post from Everyday Paleo - licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License

*Note from Sarah: Here’s a fun blog from Lisa!  To catch up on Lisa’s journey, click here. Enjoy!

Ten Changes Living Paleo

     PAST                                                                                                       PRESENT

Cried (a lot)                                                                                      Laugh so hard I cry (a lot)

Foods with a 13yr expiration date                                                    Foods that expire!!!

Bloated                                                                                              Hip bones!!

Chocolate cravings                                                                            Lettuce cravings

Arm chair athlete                                                                                Outdoor enthusiast

Ate till I burst                                                                                       Bursting with joy

Exhausted                                                                                           Energized

Muscle and joint pain                                                                          Gumby

Food Intolerances                                                                               Food fanatic

Paleo skeptic                                                                                      PALEO ROCKS!!!

What are your top 10 (5 or even 1) changes you have had following Paleo?

Until next time, much peace and happiness

Lisa

Ten Changes Living Paleo is a post from Everyday Paleo - licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License

So life in general is pretty crazy, right?  We are all busy beyond belief, pulled in a million directions, overwhelmed, overworked, and the list goes on and on.  Currently, my family is on a mission to figure out how to slow down a bit.  We have done some serious rearranging of our lives to hopefully conquer this goal.  One big change we made recently; we got rid of the television.  Not just canceled the cable, not just unplugged it, but it’s gone, adios, sayonara, out of here.  I will admit, Rowan facilitated the lingering idea by breaking our flat screen during a passionate imaginary sword fight, but it was meant to be and a sign to go ahead with what we had been discussing. We didn’t watch a lot of tv before we tossed the box, but it was enough to kind of nag at me that there were other more productive or connective things we all could be doing besides being inundated with cereal commercials or reality shows.  Was our decision extreme?  Maybe, but I don’t care.  It’s been almost two weeks with no TV and I LOVE IT.  I can’t quite explain exactly what I love about it, but I love it.  As far as the other changes we are making? Let’s just say that downsizing is a good thing.  Our house is much smaller but our dining table is larger which means it’s less space to clean and more room at the table for the ones that I love.

Now, here’s a recipe to share with you all.  I made this a couple of days ago when I knew my evening would not allow for any time to cook so in the morning, I went to my trusty slow cooker for some help and came up with what I’m sure will now be a staple at our house!

Cumin Spiced Slow Cooked Pork

2 lbs of Pork Loin (I used 2 – 1 pound loins)

Cumin, Sea Salt, Pepper

1 tablespoon coconut oil

1 yellow onion, sliced

2 cups sliced mushrooms

Sauce

1 1/2 cups green or red salsa (I used the salsa verde from Trader Joe’s)

1 1/2 cups strained tomatoes

1 tablespoon Cumin

3 garlic cloves, minced

Sea salt and black pepper to taste

In a large skillet, heat the coconut oil over medium to medium high heat.  Sprinkle the pork on all sides generously with salt and pepper and then with the cumin powder.  Use your fingers to rub the cumin into the pork loin.  Sear the cumin spiced pork in the hot coconut oil for about 3 minutes per side or until the pork is nice and brown all the way around.  Move the pork from the skillet to the slow cooker and top with the sliced onions and mushrooms.  In the same pan that you seared the pork in, add the salsa, strained tomatoes, the 1 tablespoon of cumin, and garlic, and whisk together until bubbly.  Taste and season with salt and pepper if desired.  Pour the sauce over the pork, onions, and mushrooms in the slow cooker and cook on high for 5-6 hours or on low for 7-8 hours.

Enjoy!

Cumin Spiced Slow Cooked Pork is a post from Everyday Paleo - licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License

“Oh No!” Celiac…“Oh Wait!” Gluten Free?? 

?????????

Gluten intolerance and celiac disease are two words we are hearing about more and more. (Words I am personally familiar with) You can be gluten intolerant and not have Celiac, but you cannot have Celiac without being gluten intolerant.

Running right behind all the talk of gluten intolerance and celiac, is a fast and furious health market filled with a glorious (or so we are to believe) gluten free world of  processed foods. You name it, and there is probably a gluten free substitute for it; breads, cookies, brownies, cakes, muffins – check, check and check.

Once diagnosed the next words you usually will hear are, “Go on a gluten free diet and you should feel better.” Hmmm what happens when you don’t?  Let’s be honest, most of us will switch a gluten filled processed crappy eating lifestyle style, for a gluten free proceeds crappy eating lifestyle. One is no better than the other, and I found that I felt no better either as I too fell into this trap.

I have 2 children who were also diagnosed with Celiac at the same time as I was, so not only was I trying to stay afloat in this new world I was trying to learn but I was also dealing with two young children afraid of how different their lives would be.

“Will we look different in the lunch room at school?”

”How will we eat at friend’s birthday parties?”

“Will we still even be invited to birthday parties?”

Questions and panic was coming at me in every direction.

After a few hours, ok let’s be honest, I will admit it, it was more like a few days that turned into weeks of me crying hysterically, as I walked the grocery store isles (yes I really did this) not knowing where to start, what to do, or what to eat. I was trapped in fear. All I put together was that when we ate, we felt sick, and when we didn’t, we felt better. The latter is obviously not a healthy solution.

Once my head cleared and I dried my eyes. I thought for a moment, “Wait! What about this grand gluten free world I had heard about”? Apparently you can eat just like before but without the pain and discomfort…GREAT!! win, win.

My kids where thrilled, and so was I. Problem solved……Not so fast….  I am here to say; don’t make the “just go gluten free” decision, we never got better. In fact, in time we felt worse. My daughter and I gained weight, my son lost more weight, we were still always hungry, malnourished and in no time had most of our celiac symptoms back.

Bloating, digestive troubles, IBS, DH, fatigue, headaches, active hashimoto, the list goes on. Why where we not feeling better, we were doing what we were told, we were eating gluten free!! It might have been processed junk, but it was gluten free and hey, that’s all that was supposed to matter, right?

The search for our health once again began. The amount of “plans” that I had tried to make us feel better is too long to mention, and as fast as I was trying one new plan, the next new book was quickly approaching. One day that new book was Everyday Paleo. I could not put it down, I was hooked, jackpot!!

ROCK ON THERE’S PALEO!!

From the first page, something about this plan made sense, especially the no grains. I had noticed all three of us complained about how we felt every time we ate any gluten free grain, even rice.

I liked the foods, her words, the theory behind it. It was kid friendly, in fact they were downright encouraged to be involved, and the fact that there was research and scientific proof that it worked made it the whole package. There it was in black and white, a delicious new world of foods, health and renewed energy ready to nourish our bodies.

To this day, the more I read, search and learn. The more I see most celiacs do not seem to do well on a diet filled with gluten free processed foods or gluten free grains. In my opinion, gluten free just seems to be another name for Celiac approved processed junk.

** Please note this is just my opinion and experience. I know some people have found success just going gluten free.

Until next time

Good health and much joy.

Lisa

“Oh No!” Celiac… “Oh wait!” Gluten Free?? is a post from Everyday Paleo - licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License

We are in the middle of packing up and moving.  Not out of Chico, just across town; but holy cow it’s a lot of work.  I’ve been trying not to buy a lot of food this week and just eat what we have so that I don’t have to pack and move an entire fridge of food and this morning we were down to the bare bones but somehow I made a breakfast worth sharing with all of you!!

I hope you enjoy!

Southwestern Frittata

1tablespoon coconut oil

1/4 cup yellow onion, finely diced

1 small jalapeno, seeds removed and minced

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 cup sweet potato, peeled and grated

1 pound grass fed ground beef (check out the grass fed beef from Tropical Traditions, just tried it for the first time and YUM!!)

1 tablespoons chili powder

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 cup salsa verde (I used Trader Joe’s Salsa Verde)

12 eggs

Sea Salt to taste

Preheat oven to 350. In a large saute pan, saute the onions and minced jalapeno in the coconut oil over medium heat until the onions are translucent.  Add the ground beef and cook just until it starts to brown and add the grated sweet potato and garlic.  Cook until the beef is completely browned and the sweet potato is soft.  Add the chili powder, cumin, and salsa, stir and cook until heated through.  Taste and season with a little sea salt if desired.  Transfer the meat mixture to a 11×7 glass baking dish and spread the meat mixture evenly over the bottom of the pan.  In a large mixing bowl, beat together the 12 eggs add pour over the meat mixture in the baking dish.  Cover tightly with aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes.  Uncover and bake for an additional 10-15 minutes or until the eggs are set in the middle when you jiggle the pan.

Enjoy!

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

Yes, It’s Worth It!

Here’s another success story to remind you that what your doing is worthwhile.  When you see the transformation below, many of you will think, “Wow!  I wish I had results like that.”  Stop wishing.  There is no magic here.  This is just another story of someone who wanted these results more than she was willing to suffer the alternatives.

Meet Angela.

Angela has 2 girls, one 4  and one 8 months.  Since all the way back in high school she dieted by restricting calories, sometimes by denying herself whole meals.  She told me, “There was a period of time in high school when I was anorexic. I was never successful at dieting for very long because I was always hungry and miserable, and I inevitably ended up gaining the weight back plus a couple extra pounds. It was very disheartening and I have carried a lot of guilt throughout my life due to my repeated failures.”  Well, short story shorter, here she is today.

These results happened in approximately 10 weeks.  You can read her whole testimonial on my gym’s web site here.  No magic.  No tricks or gimmicks.  Just good old fashioned dedication applied to human nutrition and sensible exercise.

Alright, let me get to the point that I’d like to make today.  Let’s pretend that a curse was cast on Angela and she was magically returned to her “before” picture state in the blink of an eye.  And let’s also pretend that the same curse would limit her future success such that it would take her exactly 5 years of paleo and exercise to return to her pre-curse fit body, even though it only took her 10 weeks last time.  Do you know what her response would be, after a little disappointment, of course?  I am absolutely positive she would say something like, “Can I get started today?”

Why should her reaction this time be different from all the other times she lost and gained weight?  Because now she knows what it’s suppose to feel like.  She is actually healthy and fit and she knows, without anyone pointing it out, that she can keep this body forever.  Tricks and gimmicks don’t feel like that.

Just some more food for thought.  Go forth and be awesome.

For all the nutrition and fitness support you could possibly ever need, visit Jason and Sarah over at Everyday Paleo Lifesytle and Fitness.

Yes, It’s Worth It! is a post from Everyday Paleo - licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License

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, 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

“Creamy” Chicken Tomato Soup
4 frozen skinless boneless chicken breast
Garlic salt to taste
2 tablespoons Italian Seasoning
1 tablespoon dried basil
1 clove garlic
1 14 oz. can of coconut milk (full fat)
1 14 oz. can diced tomatoes and juice
1 cup of chicken broth (I used homemade chicken broth but you can use store bought)
Sea Salt and pepper to taste

Put all the above ingredients into the crock-pot, cook for 9 hours on low. After 9 hours take two forks and shred the chicken, set the crock-pot on warm till ready to serve (making sure to taste it before serving to make sure there is enough salt and pepper)

Served: 6 (with left over’s for lunch the next day)

Total cost: 17.48 (this is the price if you had to go buy all the ingredients; chicken, chicken broth, spices, coconut milk and diced tomatoes.. if you are buying spices at Safeway they always have a buy two get one free deal going on if you buy their brand)

Total cost per person: 2.91

hope you all enjoy my pocket friendly college budget paleo meal

Another Budget Friendly Paleo Meal by Erika: “Creamy” Chicken Tomato Crockpot Soup is a post from Everyday Paleo - licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License

I used to find myself feeling as if the hand that life had dealt to me was simply “what it was” and that I was destined somehow to be unhappy, to be unhealthy. But I have always been a fighter and there has always been that little spark that even after being dealt several hefty blows, that little spark had never entirely been put out.

So, I encourage you to fight.  You do not have to be stuck.  You do not have to be “ok” with the hand that life has dealt to you but it takes COURAGE!!  Are you brave enough to make those changes that you know need to be changed?  Are you confident in your ability to take those first steps out of your comfort zone, no matter how difficult those first steps  might be?  Have you finally decided to turn off those ugly little voices in your head that try to stop you from being exactly what you know you want to be?

The only time you have to face this journey all alone is when you are faced with the fact that sometimes YOU are the only force that makes you stuck. All the support in the world that you need is out there, but you and you alone have to take that first step. Ultimately, you can play a giant role in choosing your own destiny and you are the only one who decides weather or not you can succeed, no matter what the goal might be.  Yes, you might fall down, yes life is hard, yes change is difficult so you can plod along and just take it as it comes or you can make it; and I urge you to CHOOSE what happens next with your own life because otherwise you will find yourself another year down the road and still….. stuck.

When you open your mind, open your eyes, and open your life to opportunity, to change,  and to positive influences, the excuses start to dwindle and you will find yourself truly steering your life in a way that is meaningful more often than simply accepting “what has happened.”

I hope that 2012 is an amazing year for all of you and as I continue on my own journey I am excited to share what happens with the Fragoso family as we continue on this exciting ride.  I also can’t wait to hear back from you – what are you going to do this year to become “unstuck!!”

Are You Stuck?? is a post from Everyday Paleo - licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License

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

Covered in this episode of Paleo Talk:

• Don’t I know you ladies from somewhere?
• Another birth control method is brought up by a listener: Fertility Awareness Method. Also the IUD and other methods.
• The vinegar thing.
• Kid is hungry all the time and I don’t want to withhold.
• PMS food cravings.
• Losing fat while nursing.
• Thanksgiving final thoughts.

Paleo Talk Episode 23 is a post from Everyday Paleo - licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License

Because our society is plagued with diets, most of which make no sense, many people come into this paleo thing with a few preconceived notions.  I would like to address some of these misnomers and get us back on the same page.  The following is a short discussion of the things paleo is often assumed to be, but in reality is not.

The most important one for me is that The Paleo Diet is not a diet.  I know, it really
doesn’t make any sense when you say it like that, but it’s true.  The Paleo Diet is the modern nomenclature for human nutrition, and the fact that we need to name the concept of “human food” means we have reached a completely ridiculous place in the evolution of our species where we have forgotten who we are and where we came from.  It seems like I say this every time I open my mouth or sit down at a computer, but here I go again – humans are the only creatures on earth that use the word “diet” as a verb.  Animals don’t do diets, they have a diet.  They also don’t suffer from the extensive list of noninfectious diseases that we do.  What is the lesson here?  We need to try to find the ideal human diet in today’s modern world.  Or by definition, go paleo.

Another thing that paleo does not define is a macro nutrient profile.  The word “diet”, even in most research papers, is synonymous with weighing and measuring food, even if it’s only part of the intake that we’re interested in, like carbs or fat.  Paleo is simply food choices.  This means that higher carb paleo and lower fat paleo are completely acceptable as long as your goals reflect those choices.  For example, high carb paleo with lots of sweet potatoes, yams and butternut squash is still paleo, but it probably isn’t the best choice for fat loss.  On the other hand, if you are an athlete and you need more carbs for peak performance, there is no reason why paleo will not work for you and plenty of reasons why a more neolithic way of eating will be detrimental.

Paleo is also not inherently a weight loss or muscle gain plan.  It is a health plan. If you are over weight, getting healthy will mean getting leaner.  If you just gave up running marathons, getting healthy will mean gaining some muscle mass.  Beyond basic health, paleo and training can be tweaked for more muscle gain or fat loss.  That is not something that can be said for most “diets”.  Try packing on muscle mass on Weight Watchers sometime.

Finally, paleo is not an excuse to not exercise.  Proper nutrition is absolutely essential, but it doesn’t change the fact that the acquisition of food was inextricably tied to movement for all but the last miniscule fraction of time that our genus has been biped-ing it up on earth.  Since the kitchen, in all it’s glory, is is merely steps away these days, you will need to get out and mimic proper human movement.  Please note that I said “mimic proper human movement.”

Perspective is everything.  All this stuff will fall into place for you when your perspective is right.

What Paleo Isn’t 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

-Dain

Inside Episode 22 of Paleo Talk:

• After tracking behavior of young son – Possible Aspergers diagnosis in future. Wait to introduce Paleo living?
• 27yr old male wants to know the basic ins and outs of this lifestyle. We don’t go over basics very often, decided this was a good time to do so.
• Omega 3/6 ratio of nuts and how to not go neurotic with tracking all this stuff. (Hint: dont)
• Birth Control hormone concerns. We talk about methods of contraception in this part as tactfully as possible. I think we did an OK job.
• How do we handle Halloween with all the candy?
• New to Paleo, with dairy cut out where am I supposed to get calcium?

Paleo Talk Episode 22 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

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

Inside Episode 21:

• Australian woman on a mission to spread the Paleo word – having problems leaning out. Her URL: noisecolourlife.tumblr.com
• Canadian Paleo family – Kids in school and bring own lunch. Two kids, need lunch ideas.
• Paleo preparedness. Hurricanes and other natural disasters.
• Destroyed a grassfed chuck roast in the pressure cooker. What went wrong, how can I fix? Dry rub suggestions.

Paleo Talk Episode 21 is a post from Everyday Paleo - licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License

*Thank you to Katie of  Wellness Mama for another great post!  Remember you can also find Katie here at her own amazing blog.  Now read and enjoy!

For a Paleo athlete (or any athlete) drinks like Gatorade, Powerade, etc are not a good option. Sure, they restore glycogen, but most are high carb or filled with questionable chemicals, or both!

Most of the time, plain water is all we need for good hydration, but those who compete in endurance sports or high intensity competitions (or have labors as long as mine!) occasionally need an electrolyte boost.

Even at these times, there are better options than conventional sports drinks. Gatorade, for instance, contains: Water, sucrose syrup, glucose-fructose syrup, citric acid, natural grape flavor with other natural flavors, salt, sodium citrate, monopotassium phosphate, red 40, Blue 1. (This is from a picture of the grape flavored Gatorade label.

If you ever compete in high intensity or endurance activities that sometimes require an some additional electrolytes, but want to avoid things like “sucrose syrup,” a homemade sports drink is easier, cheaper, and much, much, healthier.

This is also a good alternative to give your kids occasionally, as it has a lot of natural vitamins and minerals.

Natural Sports Drink Ingredients:

• One Quart (32 ounces) of  liquid: herbal tea, coconut water or plain water. (I use nutrient dense Red Raspberry Leaf Tea brewed with Stevia for the natural vitamin boost)
• 1/8-1/4 teaspoon of Himalayan sea salt (regular salt will work, but doesn’t have the added trace minerals)
• 1/4-1/2 tsp calcium magnesium powder or crushed tablets
• 1/4 cup of juice (lemon, lime, grape, apple, etc)- optional
• 1 tsp sweetener (honey, stevia, etc) – optional – I brew stevia leaf into the tea so that no additional sweetener is needed.

How To Make Natural Sports Drink:

1. Brew tea or slightly warm base liquid.
2. Add sea salt and calcium magnesium powder and shake or stir to dissolve.
3. Add juice and sweetener, if using.
4. Cool and store in fridge until ready to use.

Note: The easiest way I’ve found to make this is in a quart size canning jar. Just add warm tea or liquid, pour in salt and cal/mag powder, put the lid on and shake well.

Other Natural Sports Drink Alternatives:

• Plain Coconut Water
• Vitamin C Powder in Water
• Water Kefir Soda
• Kombucha

What’s your favorite natural sports drink? Or do you just stick to water? Weigh in below!

Natural Homemade Paleo Sports Drink Recipe from Katie of Wellness Mama! is a post from Everyday Paleo - licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License

Sarah, Chrissy and Dain are back in the same room – yes there is giggling and good times. If you’re one of those fun-haters that is annoyed by jovial goofiness, then go read the sidewall of a tire. While it’s in motion.

Inside Paleo Talk 20:

• Adrenal Fatigue – how Sarah dealt with it.
• Puree veggies in order to get kids to eat them. Bad Idea?
• Juice for kids. An OK beverage or worse than crack?
• Looking for a chip. Crunchy, slightly salty, satisfying?
• A mysterious badass has a desert job that involves walking up to 20 miles a day. How to take care of oneself?
• New mom is trying to do this deal while nursing the baby and is wondering why she can’t get to hot-mom status quicker.

Paleo Talk Episode 20 is a post from Everyday Paleo - licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License

Peaches are at the peak of their season right now in Chico, CA and a week ago we came home with a big bag of very ripe peaches and nectarines from our farmer’s market.  John was grilling up some chicken and decided to throw on the peaches and nectarines for a simple, and by all means; out of this world delicious dessert.

Here is what he did:

1) Slice peaches or nectarines in half and remove the pit.

2) Sprinkle each cut side with either cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice.

3) Grill over medium heat with cut side down for approximately 3-5 minutes.

4) Serve with a scoop of whipped coconut cream on top.  (Scoop the cream out of the top of a can of chilled coconut milk – add about a teaspoon of vanilla extract and whip together with a hand held mixer)

5) Add a sprinkle of sliced almonds if desired.

Enjoy!

Grill Those Peaches While You Can! is a post from Everyday Paleo - licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License