Paleo “Cereal”

Tired of the same ‘ol eggs and bacon for breakfast? Try this version of a paleo cereal for breakfast!

1 cup unsalted sunflower seeds
1 cup unsweetened coconut flakes
1 cup unsalted walnut pieces
1/4 cup dried unsweetened cherries, chopped
2T raw almond butter
1/4 cup raw honey
1/4 cup coconut flour
coconut oil, enough to grease the pan

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease a 9×13 pan with coconut oil.

Place ingredients in a bowl and mix until blended well.  Press mixture evenly into pan.  Bake for 15-20 minutes until browned.  Let cool for 30 minutes.  Crumble into an airtight container until ready to serve.  I pour unsweetened coconut milk over the cereal but feel free to use whatever fits with your dietary needs or taste preference.

Enjoy!

 

Breakfast

A familiar comment before the start of the Paleo Challenge is, “I just don’t know what I’m going to eat for breakfast.”  Dinner’s always the easiest to make Paleo. Lunch is a second runner up because we’ll often have leftovers from dinner.  Breakfast is the most challenging because unless you want to eat eggs every morning (which I do and I haven’t been bored of it in 3 years); then you’re SOL.

 Remember why we eat.  FOOD IS FUEL.  We eat breakfast because our bodies need nourishment to perform for the day ahead of us.  Ask yourself if pop-tarts and cereal would give you enough energy to thrive. It’s no.

Option 1: Bacon or sausage with over-easy or scrambled eggs + shredded kale, diced brussel sprouts, frozen okra, sliced zucchini.  If you google breakfast you can get very creative with stuffed mushrooms and tomatos, vary the seasonings.  You can even make egg muffins (which I choose not to do because it still takes 30 minutes to bake them).

Option 2: No-oatmeal.  This is a great alternative if you’re a fan of oatmeal. You can leave it raw until you get to work (microwave needed, though) and it’s best if you eat it RIGHT AWAY!  Find my recipe here!  My recipe is more like snack-size – the carb comes from a banana and not a vegetable.  Keep veggies handy for a mid-morning or afternoon snack.

Option 3: Make any meat and vegetable meal.  I’m usually less hungry in the morning, so sometimes if I run out of eggs or just tired of them, I just make a mini-dinner!  Have a few ounces of steak, put some asparagus on the pan, add some fruit to the side, and I have a great breakfast.

Eggs Benedict Burger

 

Eggs Benedict Burger Recipe

Makes 6 to 8 patties

Ingredients

• 3 lbs ground grass-fed beef (not too lean if you want a very flavorful patty);
• 3 large eggs;
• 2 cloves garlic, minced;
• 1 tbsp fresh herbs of your choice, finely chopped;
• 6 to 8 large eggs;
• 2 large avocados, cut into thick slices;
• Paleo mayonnaise or Hollandaise sauce to serve;
• Sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper to taste;

Preparation

1. Place the ground beef in a large bowl and add the 3 eggs. Combine until the eggs are evenly mixed through.
2. Mix in the garlic and season with salt, peppers and your choice of fresh herbs.
3. Form 6 to 8 patties that are slightly smaller than the mushroom caps so they can fit on top once cooked.
4. Place on a preheated BBQ grill and cook on each side for about 5-7 minutes (the time it takes will depend on the temperature of your grill. I cooked them at medium-low for approximately 6 minutes).
5. While the burgers are on the grill, poach the eggs. If you don’t have a poacher, this can be done easily by boiling a pot of water, adding a few tablespoons of vinegar to the water and then cracking the eggs into the pot. Allow them to cook for 5 to 7 minutes before removing.
6. Once the patties are cooked, remove them from grill. To serve place the poached eggs on each burger patty.
7. Pour some homemade mayonnaise or Hollandaise sauce over the eggs and burgers. Serve with the avocados slices on the side.
8. You can also add other toppings or condiments depending on your preferences. Lettuce and tomato slices are two good options.

Going out to Eat

One of my favorite challenges is the “going out to eat” challenge.  We get to learn about the best places to find paleo food around town! This can also improve your social experiences with others when going out to eat.

Below are a few tips I had from a  previous post.  Shaun and I had a Paleo breakfast at Scholars Inn Restaurant.

• Don’t be afraid to ask questions. This is a phobia many people have; stop fearing that you’ll be judged or considered nuisance if you ask questions.  Questions help you become more educated and we can all use a little bit of that.  If you’re a shy person, then overcome this challenge.
• You HAVE to ask questions. You don’t know if dairy, legumes, corn syrup, etc. are hidden in the soups and sauces, if grain based thickeners are in the gravy,  if  beans, corn or rice are part of a mixed vegetable option (even though they aren’t vegetable), or if they add butter to the vegetables.  Most salad dressings are a NO GO.  Whether you are afraid or not, you have to ask questions
• Ask for additions or substitutes and just pay it.  It seems that Restaurants welcome large portions of deep fried foods, but small portions of vegetables and meat.   Regardless of why this is, Shaun ALWAYS has to order a larger meat and extra vegetables.  Chances are your $3.50 cup of broccoli will barely fill the palm of your hand, but you’ll feel a little more satisfied if you include it.
• Seek out a restaurant that isn’t a chain.  Usually their food will be fresh, sometimes local ingredients.  It’s my opinion they will most likely be more understanding of your needs.
• It’s ok to talk about your challenge.  At the table discussed our needs with the server, but didn’t go into detail about our challenge.  But, on our way out of the Scholar’s Inn, I took a picture of the menu because I forgot at the table.  The hostess was standing right there so I figured I should say something.  She had heard of paleo, and we talked about it for a minutes.  You never know you can change someone’s life with a simple conversation.  It could be nothing, but it could be something!
• In general, be careful about eating out.  As you may already know, restaurants aren’t using olive oil or coconut oil.  There’s a reason why we don’t eat vegetable oil, so eat it very much in moderation. It’s critical you do not eat out everyday.

Meal time, snacking, and concerns

Meal Timing Concerns: Breakfast, Frequency, etc.

You’ve gotta read this post.  So many of us wonder about the misconceptions of eating breakfast, eating a few large meals versus snacking throughout the day, or snacks in general!  I get these questions a lot and it’s my opinion that it boils down to you listening to your body.  If you’re hungry, eat. If you’re not, then don’t.

 

To Eat Breakfast, or Not

It’s true that epidemiology shows habitual breakfast skippers trend toward being fatter and less healthy than traditional breakfasters. People who skip breakfast are more likely to be dieters (meaning they’re overweight) and lead generally unhealthy lifestyles (since skipping breakfast is widely seen as unhealthy, they’re more likely to engage in other unhealthy activities).

 

Many Small Meals vs. Few Large Meals

To graze or to feast? According to many fitness “experts,” grazing is supposed to “stoke the metabolic fire,” while infrequent meals “slow your metabolism.” The idea is that eating many small meals keeps your metabolism plugging away at a high rate for the entire day, helping you burn more fat. Conversely, going too long between meals slows down your metabolism, so that when you do eat, your body is sluggish to respond to the caloric load and you end up storing it as fat.

What About Snacking?

Another study, featured in a recent Weekend Link Love, reveals that 25% of Americans’ calories now come from snacks, half of which are sweetened beverages. Sure, drinking soda and eating chips in between meals is obviously terrible, but that doesn’t really apply to Primal snackers and their macadamia nuts, beef jerky, and berries. Or does it?

 

Coconut Milk

Can anyone tell me why Silk Coconut milk and So Delicious Coconut Milk products (and almond milk) are not on my paleo list this time around? 

The goal of our Paleo challenge is to give you the opportunity to cut habit and addiction.  It’s normal, at first, to find ways to make “cereal” out of nuts or bake some beets for that chippy “crunch.”  This is fine because we are connecting the known with the unknown.  But, you’re sabotaging your hard work over the next 30 days if you’re going to continue to find loop holes or make exceptions if there’s only a little added sugar in the Craisins or only a little bit of canola oil used for deep fried vegetables. Don’t waste these 30 days and make the Most of it!  What I suggest to use instead is coconut milk from the can.  It still includes a bit of guar gum, but this is a more acceptable option. Right now, it’s $1.99 at Sahara Mart.  A little bit goes a long way; I’ll put a spoon full in my coffee and I’ll top it on my nut cereal.

   

I expected the can to be milk, but about 1/2 of the can is a solid coconut whipped cream-type substance.  You can get creative with it.  I took it all out of the can when I opened it, put it in another container and stored it in the fridge.  I’ve had it for nearly a week now, using it in my coffee and sometimes top it on the nut cereal.   My last serving will be tomorrow.

Amp up Your Breakfast

 

Breakfast is my favorite meal of the day.  Even when I had a “regular job,” I would wake up early to have a pleasant breakfast.  One of my favorites is a sausage, egg and avocado sandwich w/ brussel sprouts on the side.  I make the egg over easy because I love the mess it makes when you bite into it!  In addition to my sandwich, I made 2 slices of bacon plus 1 more egg.

Breakfast might not be your thing, but I want you to consider and perhaps take on the challenge to incorporate morning meals with meat, vegetables, and healthy fats.

My sausage and bacon are local meat, Fischer Farms. Eggs are local/free range and purchased at Sahara Mart ($2.49 a dozen).  The avocado is organic and on sale at Bloomingfoods for $1.69 – not that shabby of a price!

No-oat Oatmeal

One of my favorite fast morning meals is No-oat Oatmeal!  I have an old recipe, but I wanted to update it. It’s fast, it’s easy, and it’s a great meal.   I will typically process a bunch of walnuts w/ cinnamon and put it in a container.  I use it for pie crust, in addition to my morning meal. With this breakfast, I will usually have a couple pieces of bacon or other meat, plus a vegetable like asparagus, brussel sprouts, or okra browned on the stove top.  Find your morning veggie!

Walnuts and Cinnamon ground up in my food processor

This is 3 or 4 batches. I use it in “granola” recipes, pie crust, and no-oatmeal.

Original No-oat Oatmeal

1/3 cup walnut (finely ground w/ cinnamon added to it)

1/2 banana (the more ripe, the sweeter it is.  Use your older bananas)

1 egg

squirt/dribble pure vanilla extract (not imitation!)

1/4 cup coconut milk (i’m only guessing. I just don’t want it too liquidy)

How to: Stir it.put it in the microwave for 1 minute. stir it. put it in the microwave for 30 seconds. Once in a while I’ll take a couple strawberries and slice it thinly or dice it into small pieces and add it on top and add a little more coconut milk.

Pumpkin No-oat Oatmeal

1/3 cup walnut (finely ground w/ cinnamon added to it)

1 Heaping spoonful of Pumpkin puree

1 egg

1/4 c coconut milk (i’m only guessing. I just don’t want it too liquidy)

squirt/dribble pure vanilla extract (not imitation!)

optional: a squirt of honey

How To: Stir it.put it in the microwave for 1 minute. stir it. put it in the microwave for 30 seconds.

Egg and Pesto Stuffed Tomatos

It’s that season to use up the thousands of tomatoes growing in your garden.  Try this recipe! I haven’t tried it yet, but I’m salivating just thinking about it!

Ingredients

• 6 large tomatoes;
• 6 eggs;
• ½ cup extra-virgin olive oil;
• 6-8 romaine or boston lettuce leaves;
• 1 garlic clove;
• ¼ cup fresh parsley;
• ½ tsp sea salt;
• 3/8 tsp freshly ground black pepper;

Preparation

1. Begin by making the pesto. Tear the romaine leaves into small pieces. Add the romaine, garlic, parsley, salt, pepper and olive oil to a blender or food processor. Process well until you obtain a pesto consistency.
2. Preheat your oven to 400 F.
3. Remove the core of tomatoes by cutting out a large cone from the top of each one with a paring knife. Using a spoon, remove all the pulp and seeds.
4. Place the tomatoes, face up, in a 9” baking dish. Fill each with the same amount of pesto; however, be sure to leave enough room for the egg as well. Crack an egg into each tomato.
5. Season with additional salt and pepper to taste, place in the preheated oven and allow to bake for approximately 20 minutes.

P.S. Be sure to check out the Paleo Recipe Book. It’s a cookbook I’ve created to help you cook the best food for your health. It contains over 370 recipes and covers absolutely everything you need.

I don’t know about you, but I’m a major fan of pesto. Here are some options for more pesto recipes

Parsley pesto

basil pesto (w/chicken dinner)

Mediterranean Mint and Parsley Pest0

Integrate Paleo in your Lifestyle

I get this often, “I’m trying to eat Paleo, but I’m hungry all of the time.”  I’m not a nutritionist.  I’m only providing information that I’ve read and believe, including some tips from my personal experiences.  Before Paleo, I struggled with being hungry within a couple of hours of eating and craved sugary foods in the afternoon primarily around the time when I “hit a wall” in which I became extremely tired and grumpy.  I always felt bloated. For up to 8 hours after eating, my lunch/dinner wouldn’t digest right, and I could feel the food sitting at the back of my throat. In addition, I didn’t have a regular bathroom schedule.  I never thought that grains are low in vitamins and minerals or that they were the root of all my problems.

When I decided to take on Paleo, I also realized I was hungry all the time.   I wouldn’t eat much veggies with my meals, and never at breakfast, so I relied on paleo snacks throughout the day.  It was impertinent that I increase vegetables and that was a challenge. Vegetables used to make me gag, really.  But, I just kept truckin exploring new vegetables and googling how to cook them.  A year later I’m eating a variety of veggies. I CRAVE them. I LOVE them. When you stop eating sugar, salty, and processed foods your buds will experience the real flavor of vegetables.  When I eat a sweet potato now, it’s perfectly sweet.  The other day I added a marshmallow ( why? I have no idea. It was dumb.), my dinner was so unsatisfying and the bold sweetness didn’t allow me to enjoy my brussel sprouts or chicken.  I guess I do these things to live and learn.  I learned that my meal was more satisfying without it.

You’re hungry all the time, too? Usually it’s because you aren’t eating enough, and perhaps, you are eating a meal that is unbalanced in veggies, fruit, proteins, and fats.  Sometimes I hear or read that you’ll have just a salad or egg whites and an orange.  Salads pre-packaged with meat usually include about 1 oz. of meat (NOT ENOUGH for you).  I have experience with the Zone Diet prior to Paleo and that helps me determine how much meat (3-4oz), veggies (usually 2-3 different veggies and servings that I can fit in my hand or more), fruit (if you are trying to lose weight, limit your fruit intake to maybe 1 a day. So cut your apple up and have 1/3 in the morning, 1/3 at lunch, and 1/3 for snack or dinner), and fat (1/2 avocado, a handful of walnuts/almonds).  We have many Zone books at the gym, you can check them out (or google it) and you can figure out your portions for your body size/activity level.

Below is an example of what I eat throughout the day:

Breakfast (anywhere between 6-9am): Eat when you are hungry. A breakfast like this can hold me over for as long as 7 hours without feeling low in energy or extremely hungry, plus, I don’t get cravings because I don’t eat sugar in the morning (i.e. cereal, oatmeal, bread in general).

• 2 eggs cooked in olive oil
• 4 strips of bacon
• 5-6 asparagus chopped
• 7-8 chopped okra
• 3 strawberries diced

Lunch (anywhere between 11am-3pm):

• 3-4 strips of chicken (or 1 breast)
• Cook up 1/4 onion and 3/4 a bell peppers on the stove top (the night before or morning of, and I chop and save the rest for eggs another morning)
• guacamole or avocado.
• It’s not enough veggies, so I cook 7-10 asparagus on the stove top w/ olive oil.

Snack (Sometimes I’ll have a snack in the afternoon. Because of gym responsibilities, we typically sit down for dinner around 10pm) : a grapefruit/almonds or walnuts/raisins or hardboiled egg/almonds or almond butter/celery are great snacks.

Dinner: (We don’t skimp on dinner just because it’s late): Paleo Spaghetti. I eat about 3/4-1/2 of a spaghetti squash w/ LOTS of meat sauce. Shaun eats about 1/2- 1 1/4 of spaghetti squash, also with lots of meat sauce.   Instead of baking the squash, I put it in the microwave w/ 1tbs water covered with saran wrap for about 5 minutes. It’s perfect.  I can’t find Pomi anymore, so I found a spaghetti sauce called Cucina Antica and it’s ingredients are pure.  It’s a little salty, though.

Some things to help you stay full longer:

1. Every meal should include protein/carb/fat:  for a small, active woman a meal is 3-40z of meat, 2-3 different vegetables, olive oil for baking.
2. Avoid whole fruit as your snack.  Cut it up into pieces and eat it throughout the day.  Protein and Fats will help you stay full and still restore energy for workouts.