Primal Nut

I’m happy to say that I haven’t gone out to lunch at work since MARCH 6TH! (Coincidentally, my last blog post date, which was also a grocery shopping day)  That is a record for me!  For most of my lunches, I just packed up dinner leftovers.  On the other days,  I had to scrounge up some salad fixings.  Not only am I saving money, but I’m also avoiding the temptation to order something bad.  For me, it’s a lot harder to specialty order my meal at a restaurant (no bun/fries/side salad/etc) when I’m out with friends or coworkers.

Since Zack and I eat pretty well at home, I can already feel the difference in my body.  I’m not as sick or bloated as I am when I’m on SAD (Standard American Diet).  I’ve also started incorporating whole milk into my diet.  I’ve found that dairy doesn’t have a negative effect on my system, so I use it to curb my sweet tooth or for a quick breakfast in the morning.

Here are some pictures of my March meals. These all came from my Tumblr photo blog – AbbyEats.

On the TO DO list: New recipe video, Update shopping list, US Wellness Meats order!

M2A, it’s trademarked!

“TEDxManhattan 2011 Fellow Stefani Bardin’s video, below, shows what happens in your body when you eat processed foods vs. homemade versions of similar foods, using a tiny M2A LED/camera capsule. The project looks at two subjects eating two similar meals: one composed of processed foods (gatorade, ramen, and gummi bears); the other of homemade versions (hibiscus drink, homemade broth with noodles and gummi bears made of juice). What happens to the foods is drastically different”

Are you surprised? Ick.

Sometimes I’m reminded of Sandra Lee’s Food Network show Semi-Homemade when I’m making traditional meals or dishes for other people.  And as much as she irritates me, I can relate.  Making some full-blown primal meals, while partial cheating your way through others seems like my MO.

This Thanksgiving we decided to stay home and have a nice quiet day/night with friends.  Only a few people came over, so I made a simple menu consisting of Thanksgiving staples and some other recipes I’ve been wanting to try.

1. Smoked Turkey (on the grill)
2. Garlic Roasted Sweet Potatoes
3. Layered Pea Salad
4. Green Bean Casserole
5. Crab Dip
6. Zucchini Chips

This was the first time Zack and I cooked an entire turkey.  Needless to say, we made a few mistakes.

First, I bought an 8 pound frozen whole turkey breast and didn’t realize until I unwrapped it.  Oops! I didn’t know that was an option!  Oh well, the white meat’s my favorite anyway.  Second mistake came Wednesday night when I started thinking about how to defrost the turkey. 24 to 48 hours!?!?! Shit.  Fortunately, a friend of mine suggested submerging it in the bathtub with warm/hot water.  Unfortunately, I left it in the bathtub over night :-/.  It was only about 5 hours, but I was worried it spoiled.  I wasn’t familiar with how a raw turkey feels and smells – it seemed too gooey.  In the end, we decided to cook it anyway*.  Since it was going in the smoker, it would be at temperature for a long time and that would hopefully kill any bacteria.

After those mistakes, it was smooth sailing.  I seasoned the bird with a mashing of rosemary, thyme, juice of one orange, and Kerrygold butter.  We also stuck some lemon and orange slices in the cavity and put it in the smoker.  Zack would know more about this, but I’m pretty sure he smoked it for a couple hours and then put it on the grill (grilling with indirect heat) for another few hours.  As you can see from the pictures, it turned out AWESOME!  It was so juicy and flavorful!  I definitely recommend this method for your Thanksgiving turkey next year (minus the bathtub defrost).

The rest of the recipes I’ve linked to above.  The layered pea salad is a family recipe adapted over the years.  You layer the following: canned peas, carrots, bacon, hard boiled eggs, red onion, and mayo.  Ugh, it’s one of my favorite things about Thanksgiving. The crab dip from Nom Nom Paleo was absolutely awesome.  It was gone in two seconds. The zucchini chips were a little limp, but I didn’t have the perfect rack to cook them on (I actually used our microwave rack!).  The only thing that BOMBED was the garlic sweet potatoes.  They didn’t cook fast enough (I allowed 40 min) and when they did, they were chewy.  No biggie though, everyone was stuffed after that menu.

How was your Thanksgiving?  Did you spend it with friends, family, or both?  Did you keep it Paleo/Primal or did you go semi-primal?

*No one got sick!

On Thursday evening I’ll be on the road headed to New York for the MRDA (Men’s Roller Derby Association) Championships! The St. Louis GateKeepers are ranked #1 going into the tournament (and we hope to come out #1 too!).

If you’re interested in the tournament, check out the schedule here. The GateKeepers play at 2pm and 6:30pm CT and it will be broadcast LIVE on Derby News Network. So check out the “live coverage” tab if you want to watch.

During our road trip, we’ll be taking lots of footage for you!  Preparing food for the trip and eating along the way.  It’ll be my first stab at editing together a lot of video, so wish me luck!

I already found a couple grass-fed beef burger joints in Philadelphia and New York, but if you have any suggestions, leave them in the comments.  Here’s our route:

View Larger Map

I’m really excited to finally try Elevation Burger and Bare Burger!

Join me on Facebook for more frequent updates of our road trip. I’ll also be updating my food photo blog with delicious eats.

Let’s admit it, we all have weaknesses. Especially troublesome are those pesky food weaknesses.  Changing your eating habits for good is not easy.  It’s much easier to slide back into the life you’ve known for many years.  The first step is not keeping any SAD food in the house, which I’m very good about.  The second step is knowing where to pick up quick paleo food when you’re in a rush.  I’m not as good at that yet.

I have bad days sometimes, where I gorge on SAD items, because they’re right there in front of me.  Usually when I haven’t been to the grocery store and I’m starving.  ALWAYS BE PREPARED!  I don’t know about you, but if I’m hungry, and there isn’t another option, I’ll eat crappy food.  I need to set myself up for success.

Here are some of my favorite weaknesses :

- pizza
- cheese
- diet soda
- chips and salsa

Instead of chips and salsa, I’ve been using plantains to satisfy my craving.  It works.  However, the chips at Trader Joe’s are fried in sunflower oil, which I’m not sure if that’s good or not (comment if you know!).  I’ve been able to steer clear of pizza, but I still eat cheese (once in a while) and diet soda (all the damn time).

So here’s my resolution for the month of July (one month at a time, right?).  No more soda! I’ve kicked this habit a few times and it keeps coming back.  I’ll go buy some La Croix.  As far as the cheese, it’s going to stay for now.

What are some of your weaknesses?  Do you subscribe to the 80/20 rule or is it more 95/5?  70/30?

A big HELLO to all my new visitors! Thanks for stopping by to check out my new primal/paleo blog. Please leave a comment if you’d like to see something in particular.

See that sidebar on the right side of the page? Well, it should update about 2-3 times a day with photos of my meals. I take a picture and post to http://abbyeats.tumblr.com from my phone. If you’d like to get updates, of course you can check here, but you can also follow me on Tumblr or Twitter.

I went to Trader Joe’s yesterday for our weekly food haul. Even though I have to drive 20 minutes out of the way, it’s worth it for grass-fed beef and antibiotic-free chicken for $2.99/lb.  I got a TON of food for $98, which will probably last us more than a week.  Then I ran next door and got roasted red peppers and a huge bottle of olive oil for $10 from World Market.

When Zack and I have groceries in the house, we cook a lot.  He’s in charge of the outdoor cooking, and I’m in charge of the indoor cooking .  Take a look below at what I brought home.

Big Ass Salad. This is the easiest and healthiest thing to whip together on Paleo. If you think living primal is hard, or time consuming, think again. It’s easier to shop (check out my grocery list) and it’s easier to prepare. You don’t have to worry about making super complicated recipes, although you can, it’s as simple as throwing together some veggies and grilling some protein. My B.A.S. usually includes lots of cucumber, red or orange pepper, cherry tomatoes, onion, hard boiled eggs, bacon, and Creta Farms deli meat. Sometimes I don’t need dressing, but if I do I use Newman’s Own Light Balsamic Vinaigrette (I know it’s not 100% Paleo…I need to make my own dressings). Another great ingredient for B.A.S is broccoli slaw and carrot strips. The combinations are really endless.

Check out this video about Big Ass Salads from Mark Sisson where he explains how easy it is to throw together a great primal lunch.

2 Minute Salad from Mark Sisson on Vimeo.

Here are some of my B.A.S. creations:

[Show as slideshow]

Here it is, five weeks later and I’m finally starting this blog. I’ve already learned so much about the Paleo diet and living primal. But before I jump into this head first, let’s back up and understand how I got here.

I’ve always had a love/hate relationship with carbohydrates. Even as a kid, “bread” was my favorite food. Luckily, I was always active and played sports all the way through college. I didn’t really see a harmful effect until after I graduated. Minus a few drops in weight due to strict diet phases, I gained an average of 10lbs a year from 2004-2010. That doesn’t seem like a lot until you add it up. 60lbs.

With the popularity of food industry documentaries like Food, Inc. and diet documentaries like Fat Head, I was gradually exposed to contradicting science. I kept digging deeper to uncover the truth about nutrition and choose my side. Initially, it didn’t make sense to question the USDA and their simple pyramid that promotes low fat and whole grains.  But once you examine the studies and really dive into the meat of the issue (pun intended), you’ll find huge gaping holes and bad science.  Plus, I remembered my own experiences with low carb and calorie counting diets. I finally dropped all my preconceived notions about what was healthy and used my common sense.  I know carbs and sugar are bad, so the biggest mental hurdle for me was befriending natural fats.  After researching hours on the internet over winter break, I finally started to believe what I was reading.  It makes more sense that human beings are meant to live on meat, vegetables, and natural fat.  Nothing processed.

Soon after this revelation I found Paleo and have been following it as a way of life since 1/1/2011.