Its been a day or so

I've got a post coming up that should include, wheat free garlic flax buns you can make for your burgers/sandwiches as alternatives to carbohydrate loaded wheat buns.  They're savory, but I must suggest some variations that would work otherwise.  The post is also going to hopefully include a Paleo/Primal Sausage Ball/Casserole/Bar recipe and a discussion of eating Primal on the run.  As many of you know, I'm a member of Palmetto Percussion, and thus, every weekend (for the most part) from October until mid April, I spend in South Carolina rehearsing.  Thus, I have to pack food and find alternatives to eating fast food and processed non-primal foods while being out of town/busy/away from cooking abilities.  Sorry i've been slacking on my writing, after Exam Week, we're game-on.  I'll have to catch up on my Advent calendar of recipes.  I'll make it worth your time!

-PickyGonePrimal

An important lesson

I thought I would start today with an apology for missing yesterday.  Either way, I bring you today an important lesson for anyone, primal or not.  I woke up this morning at 7:15, a full 45 or so minutes late.  I leave at 7:30 for class regularly to get to my 8:00 a.m.  Needless to say, I had to skip breakfast.  The dumbest thing anyone can do for their health and for their body is to FORGET to eat, especially breakfast.  Think of what the word Breakfast means.  It's two words, a compound if you will, Break - Fast.  You must eat to break the fast so your body, who probably hasn't eaten in at least 6 or so hours (probably the longest time your body will go without food), can have fuel for the day.  Eating breakfast, especially those high in protein, also helps you eat smaller meals during the day, and thus aids in weight loss/management.  Needless to say, when I got home at 12:30 today I was STARVING, quite literally.  It's worse when you are primal because your carbohydrate count is already used up through the night and anything that your body could use for energy has either been used or has been converted to waste products (I.E. - your body doesn't STORE protein, it uses it and then trashes the unused protein).

To make up for yesterday, here was my meal from last night and recipes (sorry for the picture)

Primal "Fried Chicken" and Salad

-1 and a half Chicken Breasts, sliced lengthwise (to make thinner) and into nugget sized pieces (For cooking consistency)
-Blanched Almond flour (About A cup and a half, go for about a 1cup to 1 large chicken breast ratio for chicken breasts) -> Discard Excess
-2 Eggs scrambled
-Paprika (about a tablespoon)
-Cumin (1/2 a tablespoon)
-Chili Powder (1/2 a tablespoon)
-Cayenne Pepper (Optional and about 1/2 a tablespoon)
-Garlic Powder (1/2 a tablespoon)
-Cajun Seasoning (1/2 a tablespoon)
-Ground Mustard Powder (3/4 a tablespoon)
-S & P to taste
-FOC (Fat of Choice) - Grapeseed, Lard, and Coconut Oil will do

Recipe:
1) Preheat oven to 350 and bring a pan up to medium with fat of choice
2) Combine all dry ingredients in a tupperware bowl (medium sized) and mix thoroughly
3) Dredge each piece of chicken in egg wash and then put in tupperware (Only a few at a time) and shake
4) Fry a few at a time 4-5 to crisp both sides (You can either fry them fully, trying to avoid burning them, or you can finish them in the oven).
5) Place on metal baking sheet and cook until the interior is fully cooked

Serve with no sugar added Ketchup OR

Melt butter and mix it with Hot Sauce.  Dredge each tender in this mix for buffalo tenders.

Salad:
Trader Joes carries a bunch of good mixes of greens, this week is Baby Spring Mix:
-Organic Baby Lettuce
    -Red and Green Leaf Romaine
    -Red and Green Oak Leaf
    -Lolla Rosa
    -Tango
-Organic Red and Green Chard
-Organic Mizuna
-Organic Arugula
-Organic Frisee
-Organic Radicchio

-Strawberries (Sliced)
-Persian Cucumbers (Sliced)

No dressing (Although there are plenty of recipes i'll post later).

Tasty Beverage
-Pitcher
-Water
-Ice
-Sliced Persian Cucumbers (or cucumbers of any type) (Clean them thoroughly)

Put all together in fridge and let sit.  Replace water you use over time as you consume.

Happy eating and to good health.  Check back soon!,

-PickyGonePrimal

Gameday Goodies!

Well USC starts beating the garbage out of Clemson at 7, so I needed to make a grocery run and catch some quick dinner and had the presence of mind to thaw some pit cooked pork I had frozen in the freezer.  Threw some veggies in the slicer in the old food-processor to make a refreshing veggie/fruit salad (Cucumbers, Strawberries, Apples, Celery). 

Needless to say, I'm looking forward to a few recipes I'm going to make this week.  I'll probably entertaining some guests too.  I decided to post up my grocery list and where I can get most of the stuff:

The Key:   TJ = Trader Joes, HT = Harris Teeter, BL = Bloom, FL = Food Lion, WM = Walmart (rarely will you see this), HV = HoneyVille Farms, BF = Baucom Farms (Local meat producer), AZ = Amazon, FM = Farmers Markets, HPM = Hillbilly Produce Market.

Grocery List for Nov 29, 2010

-Bananas (2 bunches) TJ, HT, BL
-Sweet Potatoes HPM, HT
-Chicken Breast HPM, BF
-Steak HPM, BF
-Ground Beef HPM, BF
-Pineapple Rings fresh or can TJ
-Kale x1 bunch HT
-Spinach x1 bunch TJ, HT, HPM
-Celery x1 bunch TJ, HT
-Parsley x1bunch TJ, HT
-Cucumbers x2 TJ, HT
-Coconut Milk HT, BM
-Escarole x1 head HT, BM
-Coconut flour AZ
-Shredded Coconut HT, BM
-Onion Salt HT
-Parmesan Cheese TJ, HT, Etc...

-TJ Ground Meat Sausage (nitrite free) - TJ or you can make it at home (i'll post up links to recipes later)

-Nitrite Free Market Sliced Bacon - TJ

-1 Green/1 Red Bell pepper
-Celery

(Assume produce is organic unless otherwise specified)

There are a few other things I forgot that i'll put on later.  I went and got 3/4 of this stuff tonight and only spent 44$ 

Anyways, look out for some great recipes, happy eating and good health!

-PickyGonePrimal

Not exactly food related, but important

With the holidays here, it's incredibly easy to be tempted by non-Paleo/Primal goodies.  Oh well, that's the nature of the beast.  Mac and Cheese yesterday, and Sausage balls/squares (w/bisquick) today.  On the other hand, great times to get inspired to create new recipes that will be plenty good and fit pretty well the Paleo/Primal community (many of which do not entirely cut out dairy).  Keep looking for a Paleo Primal Sausage ball recipe.  I'll be working on one.  With all this being said, I need to talk about a huge component to Health in general and it applies to maintaining a Paleo/Primal Lifestyle.  You can easily be tempted by stuff outside of your lifestyle FOOD choices, and like I said yesterday, the occasional deviation is fine.  These two days will be the only thing until Christmas, and after Christmas, the only deviations until my birthday in April.  If you make it a habit to think about Green veggies, or other Paleo/Primal goodies as substitutes (or even more than that = staples) the more easy it will be to transition or maintain.  While I was sick this week I had a huuuge moment of weakness that I was able to overcome.  I used to love me some Bojangles, and when I say love, I mean, I thoroughly enjoyed bojangles.  I instead opted to eat beef elsewhere and not go for deep fried carb-laden death tenders of chicken and deep fried white potatoes.  The guilt will get you.  The hardest part is that ONLY YOU can hold YOURSELF accountable for deviation.  You can make the transition and since I found a way to keep from deviating I've decided to reward myself with Paleo/Primal "Fried Chicken Tender" Wraps, that you'll see this week.  I've got a Smörgåsbord of upcoming recipes and meals that are both easy and tasty and should help those of you thinking about transitioning make the plunge.  Going back to the title, I used to be extremely picky and I'm still experimenting with new vegetables that I've never tried before.  For December, look forward to an "Advent calendar" of sorts.  A new recipe each day and a tip/word of encouragement.

About today:  Today I went with my family to Boone, NC to start a new family tradition where, the day after Thanksgiving, we rent a van and drive up and pick out our trees at a tree-farm in the mountains.  We spend the day together and enjoy each others company.  After we picked out our trees and got down the windy and, quite frankly, scary as hell mountain, we went to Canyons in Blowing Rock for lunch.  Of all the many choices I could have made for lunch, I decided on Smothered grilled chicken with pineapple and, not so primal, cheese.  Served with a baked potato and asparagus.  I've never eaten asparagus.  It might surprise you guys, kind of like peeing afterward surprised me, but I had never had it and honestly, I have to say it was pretty darn good.  Definitely going to experiment more with it later.  As for eating stuff, I opted out of extra BBQ (certainly carb laden) sauce (surprising my family immensely) and ate it as is.  I'm starting to enjoy meats natural flavors and given the quality of meat I'm buying these days, it's NOT HARD.  As for the potato, I ate half of it, and ate the skin with it to sneak out every last bit of dietary fiber I could in the meal.  I drank water, as is my custom these days, and overall had a pretty guilt free meal/day.

A picture from today reppin' my Palmetto Colors amidst a ton of other trees very different from the one on my jacket.

As always, to Good health, Good eats, family, and a quality life,

-PickyGonePrimal 

Thanksgiving Finished

Just got back from enjoying the day with my Family.  I'll be honest and say I had some Mac and Cheese, and as much as I enjoy it, i'll just have to enjoy it once or twice a year.  Being Primal/Paleo doesn't mean you can't treat yourself to something on occasion.  When I say on occasion, I mean very very very rarely and you are the only one that can hold yourself responsible for it.  Changing a lifestyle is mostly psychological.  You have to have willpower and realize the results of your decisions.  The guilt you feel later far outweighs the enjoyment you'll probably get from splurging.  That being said, on days when you eat large meals, make sure to exercise a bit.  I personally just got back from a couple mile run.  There is nothing quite like running to good inspiring music.  The song of the past few weeks has certainly been:





As always, I wish good health to you all, a happy Thanksgiving and good eats!

-PickyGonePrimal

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope everyone else has a great thanksgiving.  Enjoy your food and try not to overeat.  The chances of heart-attack double on thanksgiving and days where huge meals are tradition.  Anyways, keep an eye out for some easy recipes for next Thanksgiving and Christmas in the next few days. 

This week you'll possible see recipes for:

-Primal/Paleo Sweet Potato fries
-Primal/Paleo "Fried Chicken" tenders (Buffalo style) (Wrap Style)
-Primal/Paleo Avocado Honey-mustard
-Primal/Paleo Cauliflower Tots
-Primal/Paleo Chocolate Chip Cookies

Kind regards, Happy Thanksgiving, Good eats, and Good health to all!

-PickyGonePrimal

3rd post in 24 hours.

A friend of mine passed this link along to me on Facebook and it was a GREAT find to illustrate the ideas that I've been trying to convey in my past blog posts.  In fact, good enough to warrant a 3rd post in 24 hours.  The link can be found below.  I suggest reading it before reading any further.  It's worth the 5 minutes of your life!

Nutrition-secrets-from-cavemen

While I disagree with calling Paleo/Primal a Diet (Since it is a lifestyle and not crash-diet) and how the author of both the book and article refer to it as the "Paleo Diet" I'll try to ignore this because overwhelmingly the author captures vital points to optimum health.  Another point that I've somehow forgotten in the fray of talking about me is applying everything to you readers.  Everyone's body and genes may require different foods and mixtures of the Paleo prescriptions.  Some may require more protein, some more unprocessed carbohydrates, some more fats.  There is a great link on the site which may help you type yourself.  Plus, ITS FREE!  They key to health is to eat according to your genes!

On the next note, the author talks about unrefined dairy products.  Unrefined or unpasteurized dairy products may seem dangerous to some.  However, with the risks your taking by eating grains and the other processed garbage that the rest of the world may be eating, I think it's a small one, and a healthier risk (if there really are healthier risks...).  I've posted a link to where you can find information about Raw milk and other dairy like where you can find it, risks, etc...  Good reading.  I can certainly tell you that soon, I'll be consuming it.  As I get more information, i'll pass it along!

Real Milk
Nutritional typing link can be found here


To good health and happy eating!,

-PickyGonePrimal
(Justin Brewer)

PickyGonePrimal is not a physician, please contact yours before making drastic changes in eating habits.  PickyGonePrimal is not responsible for any adverse affects YOU may experienced during the changing of eating habits or adaptation of anything mentioned in his blog posts.  These posts are put together out of experience and research and recount information that may be helpful towards your more healthful pursuits.  Thank you for reading.