Vibrant Sexy Strong

Pre-Paleo, meal planning revolved around the slow cooker. Once our family made the Paleo transition, our Crock Pot became obsolete. However, as the demands on our family’s time continues to grow, the need for fast and easy Real Food also grows.

Enter Paleo Slow Cooking: Gluten Free Recipes Made Simpleby Chrissy Gower (of Growing Up Paleo fame) and voila! Dinner is served (in 8 hours).

Why I Love This Cookbook

Most cookbooks are filled with time-consuming and ingredient-heavy recipes—two things that make it more of a special occasion than an everyday experience. Paleo Slow Cooking has the everyday chef in mind in the following ways:

• The purpose of this book is to get dinner on the table. It’s no-nonsense, non-frilly, and uncomplicated. The ingredients are readily available, healthy, and tasty.
• The recipes are quick and easy to prepare. During our most recent family vacation, we spent hours at theme parks and had little time for meal prep. I used this book several times so we didn’t eat churros for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
• The ease of the recipes frees up time and stove space. I struggle making a main dish and side dishes because I don’t have enough time or space on the stove to make everything all at once, particularly with a 2yo pulling on my leg. Having the main dish finished in the morning makes the afternoon much smoother.

Additional Features That Tickle My Fancy

Leftovers from Paleo Slow Cooking (Mild Shredded Chicken)

There are also a handful of features that were created with a busy person in mind. My faves include:

• Recipe card for modifications. There’s a space dedicated at the bottom of each recipe for modifications and ideas. Mild Shredded Chicken leftovers turn into a fiesta chicken salad and I can easily access my notes to see that I need to add lime/orange juice, apples, grapes, celery, pecans, eggs, cayenne, salt, and pepper.
• List of necessary tools. In the left-hand corner, you’ll find everything you need for the recipe–peeler, cutting board, spatula, etc. A nifty time-saver that is also helpful for little hands in the kitchen.
• Thumbnail pictures of recipes. I eat with my eyes and the indexed pictures make it easy for me to make a decision or offer choices to my 4yo and 2yo children.
• Breakfast and dessert recipes included. I expected soup and main dishes, but frittatas, oatmeal, and brownies? Yes, please.

Who Should Buy This Book?

The folks who would benefit the most from Paleo Slow Cooking: Gluten Free Recipes Made Simple are those who:

• Need easy (non-gourmet) Paleo meals to prepare ahead of time
• Are overwhelmed by Paleo or gluten-free meal preparation
• Don’t have a lot of time to cook, but still need healthy nourishment throughout the day
• Have small children and only two (or fewer) hands

I love this cookbook. We prepare three meals every single day in our home and it gets exhausting. Having dinner done by 9 am (or even the night before) is a major relief that keeps the family happy and the bellies full.

* I received a promotional copy of Paleo Slow Cooking: Gluten Free Recipes Made Simple. All opinions are honest and my own.

* Disclosure: Affiliate links included. You can read my full disclosure statement here.

There is so much great content out there. Here’s a sampling of what I’m reading when I’m not writing.

Paleo Pad Thai by Melissa Joulwan

Paleo Pad Thai on The Clothes Make the Girl. This meal is delicious. So delicious that we made it after the kids went to bed so we wouldn’t have to share. I personally think it stands alone as a meal itself rather than as a substitute for the real thing, but that’s probably because I don’t make substitute Paleo meals. And speaking of Asian cuisine…

The Asian Paradox: How can Asians Eat So Much Rice and Not Gain Weight? on Mark’s Daily Apple.

Paleo and PCOS on Paleo Pepper. This girl knows her stuff when it comes to Paleo and PCOS. Just a heads up: I seem to remember this article is clean, but there is a fair amount of swearing on the rest of the site.

Meet the 105-Pound, 13-Year-Old Girl Who Is a Record-Holding Powerlifter on The Blaze. Yeah, that’s right. This barely-teenager can deadlift more than my body weight. She’s also a Paleo-adherent.

Inflammatory Bowel Disease is Increasing on Journal Watch. Looks like Baby Mimi won’t be alone if her blood tests come back positive.

Fast snacks aren’t exactly the paragon of Paleo. Especially with two little ones, every outing feels like a camping trip. To make things a little easier throughout the day, is is generally how we snack.

My children (ages 3 and 1) also eat these as their snacks as opposed to having separate “kid” snacks lying around the house. There aren’t a lot of fruit options on here because as it turns out, any more than 2 servings in a day for my son = terrible tantrums and major difficulty sleeping. And sometimes 2 servings is too much.

1. Leftovers. This is our big go-to every day, whether it is Mel’s Cottage-Flower Pie or a batch of curry.

2. Raw.

• Cucumber
• Jicama
• Bell peppers
• Avocado
• Sugar snap peas
• Trail Mix (when I’m in a bind) of macs, almonds, walnuts, raisins, apricots, coconut flakes

3. A little more effort.

• Smoothie (frozen strawberries, coconut milk, spinach, cinnamon, etc)
• Guacamole
• Cashew hummus
• Kale salad with whatever protein I have left in the fridge

4. Cook up a batch and store in the fridge.

• Steamed broccoli and cauliflower. Dress with a little olive oil and pepper.
• Sauteed carrots. Sauteed in coconut oil with onions.
• Sauteed green beans. These are pretty frequent right now since my mom’s garden is producing a huge batch every day. Coconut or olive oil, garlic powder, and a little salt and pepper
• Meatballs
• Homemade jerky
• Hard-boiled eggs
• Sausage patties

5. Pre-Made.

• Olives
• Tuna or salmon
• SeaSnax (I prefer Toasty Onion)
• Coconut butter (Artisana is my favorite)
• PaleoKits (usually for traveling)
• Larabars (emergency only)

Any other tips? What do you do for snacks? Can you get out of the house without feeling like it’s a camping trip?

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Photo Courtesy

* Recipes included: Chicken with Rosemary and Mushroom Glaze, Sauteed Cabbage, Roasted Green Beans

First off, a little math problem:

Disneyland > Every other place on the planet

Ancestral Health Symposium > Disneyland

Therefore…

Ancestral Health Symposium = Awesome

I have a million things synthesizing in my mind about the Ancestral Health Symposium and my mind is totally blown. A lot of my thoughts were confirmed, and even more topics were brought up that I never considered.

But since my brain is fried from a science-heavy weekend, I thought I’d treat myself to an easy post. Dinner.

Here is a typical meal at our house (avocado not pictured). My family scarfs this down like it’s the last meal they will ever have. It’s Paleo-friendly, PCOS-friendly, and scrumptious.

Protein: Chicken with Rosemary and Mushroom Glaze (courtesy Paleo Plan)

We adore this meal. I don’t even care for mushrooms, but I enjoy them immensely in this dish. Probably because Paleo has forced me to stop being so picky. The only issue we have is that the rosemary is a little hard for my 3-year-old to eat.

Carbohydrate: Sauteed Cabbage

Usually, we throw in a handful of pepitas and currants to liven up this dish, but I must have been out.

Ingredients: cabbage, olive oil, salt, pepper

Directions: Saute cabbage over medium heat with olive oil, salt, and pepper to desired tenderness.

Carbohydrate (part 2): Roasted Green Beans

Another family fave. The baby has a harder time with this one, but I just learned from Dr. Michael Mew that she needs to work on chewing hard veggies anyway for her jaw development.

Ingredients: green beans, olive oil, salt, pepper

Directions: Combine ingredients. Bake 350 for 25-30 mins.

Fat: Avocado, Olive Oil, Nuts

Not pictured. Sorry.

If you try any of these, let me know how they turned out. Happy eating!

This post was originally published on the now-defunct blog 3strong. All posts have been backdated and appear here.

There are myriad diets and eating lifestyles out there and the only near-universal truth is that vegetables are good for you. So like Mom and Karen have admonished, eat your vegetables.

While most people are inherently aware of the value of vegetables, eating them seems to be a challenge. We love veggies in our family, particularly of the cruciferous variety. When I plan my week well, we eat them at every meal and snack (yes, even breakfast), with roasting being the preferred cooking method. Here’s an easy-peasy recipe that leaves my husband, my 2-year-old, and myself fighting over the leftovers.

Roasted Brussels Sprouts*

Brussels sprouts, halved
Olive oil
Sea salt
Pepper
Garlic Powder

Coat Brussels sprouts well with olive oil. Season with salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Bake cut side up on top rack for 15 minutes at 450º.

* I can’t remember where I got this recipe. It was probably from Robb Wolf’s The Paleolithic Solution or from Scotty Hagnas at Performance Menu. If anyone knows, please leave it in the comments and I will cite it accordingly.

I need to eat green vegetables every day for my body to be happy. My go-to meal always includes a raw kale salad because

• it’s easy
• it’s satisfying
• it’s tasty (if you don’t mind the taste of kale…which may be an acquired taste)
• it’s packed with nutrients
• it goes with any protein I cook
• it’s green

I make this 2-3 times a week and just throw whatever protein I have on top of it with whatever veggies I have on hand as well. We most often have it with chicken, salmon, or grilled hamburger patties.

(I recognize I just wrote about crazy Paleo recipes on Wednesday; the difference is I am not suggesting you use kale as a substitute for rice or bread and expect it to taste the same. It’s just kale. No strings attached.).

Raw Kale Salad, adapted from somewhere, but I don’t know where…

1 bunch kale, washed, stems removed, torn into bite-size pieces
1 tsp chili powder
2 T olive oil
1 T lemon juice (also delicious with lime juice)
S&P to taste

Mix all together and massage kale with your hands. Serve.

(Measurements are my best guess, as kale bunches vary greatly in size)

The key for a successful Paleo day in my book is starting the morning out with meat. Eggs just don’t cut it and I’m hungry all day long.

Obviously having been a vegetarian at one point in my life, this was a huge paradigm shift. Meat for breakfast? Yuck. (Meat anytime? Yuck)

However, I’m a new woman and it’s pretty easy to whip up these babies.

The photo above is not mine; my camera lens broke and the $200 it costs to fix isn’t quite in the budget at the moment. These are a pretty good representation, though.

We generally cook 3 pounds and leave them in the fridge for a fast breakfast or snack during the week. They are easy-peasy and a quick way to get some quality protein. Plus, my 2-year-old likes them.

Tips from my errors:

• Use a large serving fork to mix meat
• Chilling is not necessary for my husband; I find it’s easier to shape patties that way and chill it overnight
• Cook on a griddle. We wish we had one.

Breakfast Sausage Patties, adapted from Caveman Food

1 lb ground turkey or ground pork

1/2 tsp each: black pepper, cumin, ground ginger, nutmeg, oregano, red pepper flakes

1 tsp each: basil, sage, thyme

1 T onion flakes or 1 tsp onion powder

3/4 tsp salt

1 egg, lightly beaten

Combine seasonings. Mix in egg and ground meat. Chill for an hour to allow flavors to meld. Shape into patties and cook up with olive oil on medium-high heat.