Wednesday, November 30, 2011

I Can't Afford To Eat Healthy!!


I hear this all the time, and it's completely untrue. Yes it would be lovely if you could throw out all that unhealthy food and stock your kitchen with all kinds of natural foods and ingredients to make gourmet real food meals.... then there is the real world. You really can make your budget work if you take the time to do some thinking. Replace that $5 box of sugary cereal with $5 worth of eggs and bacon. Skip the sandwich for your lunch and replace it by baking a whole chicken that will cost around $5 and probably be enough meat for 3-5 lunches. Same thing with dinner. Replace those carbs with more meat, fat and veggies.
I have a family of five (three children ages 7,4,and 1) and we were spending about $200 a week on groceries buying typical American processed foods. We ALL went Primal/Paleo . Take a look at the picture of my grocery cart at the bottom.

How much did this cost? $180, and it lasted over about 2 weeks. It can be done.

One of the tricks to not over spending at the grocery store is to look at what's on sale online or in the paper, clip coupons, plan your meals, and make a list. You can of course save by buying in bulk if you can use it all before it goes bad. Freeze food to keep it longer. Meat, fruits, and veggies are all very easy to freeze. I found avocados on sale for 2/1.00 so I bought 10. If you find you bought more then you are going to be able to eat before they turn bad freeze them. I could make guacamole and freeze it in a container or freezer bag. Another option would be to smoosh with a fork or purée in a blender or food processor and freeze it in an ice cube tray. Pop out the avocado cubes and put them in a freezer bag. Then you can pull out what ever amount you need easily (1 cube=approx. 1oz)
The point is you can afford it. Just substitute what you have been eating that is unhealthy for something healthier.

Thursday, November 24, 2011

Cranberry Relish

It might be too late to make this for Thanksgiving, but this is a great side to any poultry, and cranberries should be available for several more weeks. My family loves it when I make this when I bake a whole chicken (or 2).

2 12oz bags cranberries
1 lg can pineapple chunks in JUICE
2 oranges peeled and sectioned
1/8-1/4c honey to taste
Preheat oven to 350F (can be baked at a higher temp if you need, just adjust cooking time accordingly)
Mix all ingredients in a baking dish, including the juice from the pineapple can. Bake covered for 40 min, stir, bake uncovered for additional 20 min.

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

BBQ sauce

I bought some ribs at the store since they were on sale. I LOVE BBQ RIBS. So I set out to make somed Paleo BBQ sauce. I looked around the internet and found this recipie:

http://www.thefunctionalfoodie.com/2011/04/pulled-pork-homemade-paleo-bbq-sauce.html 

Only I didn't have cayenne pepper so I used chili powder. I accidentally dumped like 3 times too much in, OOPS!! So I added a little more apple cider vinegar and some blue berries I had in the freezer to try to cut the HOT. In the end it was perfect for Jeriah and I, and the kids have never liked BBQ sauce anyways so I just left theirs plain. I made a double batch and it made a TON. I used it for the family pack of ribs, a family pack of chicken thighs and I still have 1/2 left! I will be freezing this and using it again soon. It was amazing

Monday, November 21, 2011

Grains and legumes

   I am going to try to make this simple and brief. I am not going to go into great detail on every little thing and the science behind it. The science is there and there is a lot of support for what I believe. This will be a general, simplified, over view. Feel free to ask questions or do your own research.
    Grains are bad for you. Yes even whole grains. One of my smaller issues with grains is that they are digested and turned into sugar. The rise in blood sugar, insulin spikes, and blood sugar fall roller coaster is not good for your body at all. Grains and legumes also contain substances/anti nutrients, yes there are many and they have names, but this is just an overview so I wont go into that here. These bind to to minerals causing deficiencies, damage ones ability to digest and use dietary protein, are thyroid inhibiting, as well as "foreign proteins" that are extremely common sources of allergies and sensitivities that can lead to many adverse physical and emotional issues. They also damage the intestinal lining causing "Leaky Gut Syndrome" (also called Increased Intestinal Permeability) allowing toxins to leak out of the intestines. This triggers an autoimmune response and can lead to many autoimmune issues and diseases.
Many Paleo followers are evolutionists. In fact the diet is loosely based on what they think hunter/gathers ate during the Paleolithic era. I am a creationist so I have my own ideas. During biblical times its believed that there were about 5 different types of wheat, storage of wheat was rudimentary and lead to the grains sprouting and/or fermenting. This wheat was stone ground and made into bread using few ingredients and no man made chemicals. Now there are hundreds of different kinds of wheat, it is processed and bleached, chemicals are added and it is baked into things that in no way resemble the bread of biblical times. Soaking/sprouting/fermenting grains neutralizes many of the anti nutrients and makes it rather safe to eat. So I believe if you could replicate the process of biblical times with some of the original wheat and prepared it correctly you could safely eat it. What remains is the grains remain a very high carbohydrate food source, and very low in nutrients. Instead I consume my carbohydrates in the form of nutrient dense vegetables and occasional fruit.
  I also enjoy meat (preferably grass-fed/ pastured), eggs, healthy fats like coconut and olive oils, vegetables, fruits, nuts, and seeds.
 

Saturday, November 19, 2011

Winter Fun!!




Had to get out and ski in the snow as soon as it fell!! The first snow really isn't ski-able per se, it sticks to your skis and doesn't allow them to glide, and with no base you just kinda of sink in. First Jeriah pulled me and the boys around the pastures to make a course. He could have pulled us behind the ATV but decided to get a "cross-fit" work out instead. I strapped on my boots and clicked into my skis and went for it. The results were less then graceful but OH SO MUCH FUN! At the bottom I included a pic from a couple years ago in the same ski coat, YIKES!!

In the beginning.......




After several children and a progressive genetic disease I found myself 60lbs overweight. I started cutting out junk food and reading about nutrition. I kept cutting back on unhealthy things and trying to eat healthier options. I was eating mostly lean meats, veggies, whole grains and fruits. This worked pretty well, I lost about 45lbs in a year and a half. It was slow weightloss (about 1/2 lb a week) but it came off. I had done a lot of reading and was really convinced that wheat (and all other grains) soy, corn surup, processed sugars are all less then optimal nutritioave. We had a health scare in the family (a separate blog on this later) it gave me the push to change our families diet to Paleo (google it if you don't know what Paleo is). We have seen so many wonderful, nearly unbelievable, changes in the month since we switched! I have lost 11 lbs since we went Paleo!