Cacao Nib Pork Chops

You may think i've gone off the deep end after you read this but I swear I'm sane. I have a thing for chocolate these days - darker the better. Chocolate doesn't GET darker than cacao nibs - they are just crushed raw cacao beans (which are actually seeds). Just for fun i bought some cacao beans because, geez, just sounded like a great snack food.
So here they are next to a quarter. I wouldn't buy them - they are "barely" edible. I just popped them in my mouth - there's a thin shell which didn't help the taste. If you peel them, they're better. I suppose if you covered them in chocolate like those almonds or coffee beans, they'd be the bomb. But these, um, crunchy bitterness.

BUT, that's just proof that it is possible to have too much of a good thing. So, why cook with this stuff? Well, if you google cacao and read up, you'd think it was a magic drug that hits you with magnesium, suppresses appetite, releases all kinds of feel-good chemicals in the brain (the "Bliss Chemical), blah blah blah - don't know if any of that is true. What i do know is that it imparts a rich, nutty, roasty, flavor to meats. So here's the recipe (I swear i've had these like 10 times now! - feeling so guilty not sharing! ) U can get cacao nibs at whole foods or online. They're pricey but we're not using that much.

Cacao Nib Chops with Butternut - enough for (2) 5 block meals

9 oz (final weight) boneless pork chops - trim all fat. 63gm P, 7gm F
4 tsp raw cacao nibs 8gm F, 4gm C
18 oz butternut squash - cubed 60gm C
2 Table Spoon Agave 32gm C
3 tsp Olive Oil 15gm F
1 egg 7gm P 5gm F
Couple handfuls of spinach - negligible C
Cinnamon
Salt and Pepper to taste

Pound the chops out like this if you can.

Whip up an egg in a bowl, coat the chops, then sprinkle 1 tsp of cacao nibs on both sides like so...
I know! Looks funny. Go with me ;-)
Prepare the butternut squash and get 2 tsp of olive oil going in a pan. Get the butternut going first. After 5 minutes, put 1 tsp of olive oil in another pan and, once it's hot, get the chops going. Add the agave to the butternut towards the end and sprinkle with cinnamon (soooo good ). Everything should finish about the same time. Throw some raw spinach on the plate to make your mama proud. Put butternut over the spinach, add the chops and you're ready to chow! Let me say i've made these chops with all kinds of spices - don't do it. The nibs will get lost. Just light salt and pepper work best. Then you will appreciate the roasty chocolate taste.
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Sorry I'm not done :-) If you're just here for the PZ meals, skip the rest. I've been working with some people on "diets" and watching all the new paleo foods come out - which is awesome. There's been so much misinformation in the US about diet - it's hideous really (read "Good Calories, Bad Calories"). Now we've got some brave souls giving us options in the right direction - albeit for a little moolah but this IS America. HOWEVER, I'm not quite happy with some of the statements/direction that seem to imply U just can't go wrong on a paleo diet. Well it depends on your goals. Let's just say you're a crossfitter (might be a few of you out there ;-) You need power:weight - in other words, lean and strong. Will you get there eating strictly paleo with no portion control? Would not work for me. Is it true that you can't get fat eating fat? Not according to my bodyfat tests when i was eating too many nuts (full paleo btw). Granted, you will be better off eating paleo but sorry, paleo tells you what to eat, not how much to eat. Even cavemen were out to gain fat for the winter and the survivors did a good job of it. That skill was passed on to us. So, what do you do? Paleo-Zone of course. Zone tells you how much to eat. Sorry i'm not done ;-) cuz there's a loop-hole in the zone - it's called "double fat, triple fat, you're getting fat" In Barry Sears book, he says "..Truly elite athletes should consume two fat blocks for every protein block. Therefore, their ratio of protein, carbohydrate, and fat blocks would be 1:1:2" He previously states a fat block is 1.5 gm. So, a 1X fat zone meal would be 30.8%P, 39.6%C, and 29.7%F a 2x fat meal meal would be 26.8%P, 34.4%C, and 38.8%F. A 3X fat meal would have 46% fat - who needs 3X fat? Athletes at the top of their game i would guess. So, what are you eating? Check the math - fat is 9 cal/gm, carbs are 4 cal per gram, proteins are 4 cal/gm. There are some marketed "paleo" foods out there with upwards of 56% of their calories from fat. These foods must be for Olympians!! Now i'm not a dietician, nutritionist, or any kind of health specialist and I won't take credit for any Paleo or Zone theories. I'm an engineer that read most of the books out there and knows how to follow instructions and be exact. E-mail me if you need any help perfecting your diet - assuming your goal is a high power:weight ratio. Steve "Paleo"

How to make your own paleo meal-in-a-bag

Here's how you can make your own Paleo Fast-Food ;-)

Ingredients for a 4 block "meal":
4 oz of Free Range Bison turned into jerky (oh ya that's a Quarter LB of bison!)

Dried Bananas ~ 15 gm - WF sells them with nothing added. Go online too.
Dried Cherries ~ 10 gm - no sugar or sulfites.
Dried Mulberries ~ 10 gm - no sugar or sulfites. They are mild, slightly sweet, high in fiber.
Raw Almonds and Pecans ~ 12 gm (Costco baby!)
Gooseberries ~ 5 gm no sugar or sulfites. They are tart, sweet, and VERY expensive. They are also known as golden berries or incan berries. $24/lb at Whole Foods - not kidding.
Cacao Nibs ~ 5 gm no sugar or preservatives. This may be a debatable paleo food but you can eat it raw (in fact this IS raw), and it is 100% natural. Oh ya, maybe i should explain what it IS - this is what's used to make chocolate. They're broken up cacao "beans" - but BTW, they are technically seeds. I've been adding it to cookies and meats (believe it or not) It's kind of a nutty chocolate taste and is more dense in antioxidants than any other food - blueberries, acai berries, pomegranate - U name it.

Here's what everything looks like spread out.


Where do ya get this stuff? Get together with your buddies, sisters, whatever, and order top-round bison from BuffaloGal.com There's lots of recipes for jerky. Replace the sugars with agave and maple syrup, replace the soy sauce with sea salt - about 1-2 tsp per lb of meat, and ramp the spices up a bit to account for the fact that the soy is gone. You can make it in the oven, lots of internet tips on that, or buy a cheapo dehydrator for ~$60.00. You'll have to pool your resources on the other ingredients too but a good one-stop shop is nutsonline.com. Bounce around the net for a bit and you'll find everything you need. The vacuum sealer is the bummer. The good commercial ones are expensive. But, you can go to Costco and buy the home ones. They work pretty good but you have to fight your way into the bag - no challenge for a caveman though right? Good Luck! Steve

Paleo Shepherd's Pie

Now that fall is around the corner, it's time for a Shepherd's pie. I decided parsnips would be front and center despite the sometimes bad rap they get. Why? They have a glycemic index of 97 which is 3 pts shy of sugar! Might as well go stand in front of a speeding train loaded with insulin right? A Paleo diet is supposed to be low glycemic but these aren't so what's up? Well, glycemic index is determined by feeding individuals enough of a given food so that 50 g of carbs are ingested - that's a hell of a lot of parsnips! It's also the only food they ingest - no fats or proteins to slow things down. A reasonable sized serving of parsnips is about 80-90 gm, which is in the recipe below and is only 15 gm carbs. That's WAY below what I need to balance a 5 block meal. I had to chow some fruit on the side. The glycemic load (which takes into account normal serving size) is about 12 for that amount of parsnips (eating ONLY parsnips) or 1/2 what you'll typically see in pasta or potatoes. Ahaaa! This is partially due to substantial fiber in parsnips - about 5 gm in a 80 gm serving. This is 3X mashed potatoes. Now we're starting to get the complete picture. Parsnips have a VERY slight carrot taste and make a great potato substitute. My "kids" liked this shepherd's pie - it's mild and yummy. Give it a try - it's a winner and makes good left overs too. BTW - I used turkey for this one but any lean meat will do - ground round, bison, etc.

Paleo Shepherds' Pie - enough for (4) 5 block meals!
[Protein gms, Fat gms, and Carb grams listed at end of each line)
20 oz Ground Turkey 110 P 35 F
12 oz Parsnnips - pealed and grated - 63 C
8 oz Zucchini - sliced - 8 C
3 oz mushrooms (i used shitake) - sliced - 3 C
1/2 C Red Onion - 5 C
1/2 C Cilantro - negligible C
2 Green Onions - chopped - 4 C
1/2 Cup Celery - sliced - negligible C
1 Slice Bacon - 15F 3P
8 egg whites - 24 P
1 Tbl Spoon Olive Oil - 14 F
1 Teaspoon Onion Salt
1 Teaspoon Celery Salt
1 Tablespoon Seasoning (I used Italian Seasoning. Costco Rustic Tuscan Seasoning would also work well)

About 1 lb of fruit - like apples, pears, etc. to have as desert or on the side to balance out the carbs. Remember this is four 5 block meals. If you're a 2 block person (looking for 14 gm protein), you get 1/10th of the "pie" and about 1.5 oz of fruit (2/20*16 oz). Although, this brings up a different subject... In the book Lights Out: Sugar, Sleep, and Survival by T.S. Wiley, it is suggested that when the days shorten, we should cut our carbs back further because "back in the day", that's what happened, and this helped to deplete stores of fat, cholesterol, etc. Interesting concept - i might try it. What's my point? Maybe being a little shy on carbs as we head towards winter is not such a bad thing.


Preheat oven to 450F.
Peal and grate the parsnips with a cheese grater. Add onion salt and olive oil and set aside.
Slowly cook the bacon slice - remove bacon strip and DO NOT throw out the bacon fat - leave it in the pan.
Pan fry the onions, turkey, Italian Seasoning, and onion salt - do not over cook. We're gonna cook it some more. Pepper to taste.
Prep the zucchini, mushrooms, and celery and saute in the bacon fat - do not over cook.
Combine meat and veggies in one pan and mix thoroughly. Let cool down a couple minutes.

Take 4 egg whites and cilantro and mix them into the meat/veggies.
Take other 4 egg whites and mix with parsnips.
Get an 8X8 metal or pyrex pan and spray bottom with olive oil. Add meat and veggies then cover with parsnip mixture.
Don't smooth tops of parsnips too much - browns better if you don't.

Cook in oven at 450F for about 25 minutes or until top start to brown. I like to put my oven on broil for the last minute so the top is nice and crisp. Sprinkle twith chopped bacon. This dish tastes like "comfort food" - you're gonna like it ;-)

Enjoy! Steve "Paleo"

Salmon w/Pineapple & Pantacones

It was really hot in Boulder today so I wanted to cook all or most of my dinner on the bbq but grilled vegetables are kind of boring. Somehow, pantacones (NOT pantalones - those are pants ;-) came to mind. I had pantacones for the first time in Costa Rica. They are made from plantains. Green plantains are firm and starchy. Yellow ones are somewhat sweet and starchy. I bought yellow ones and i tried eating some raw. Not bad, but a little chalky (or maybe starchy). I'm certain the green ones are not good raw, BUT, I want to note that unlike potatoes, they are not toxic - valid paleo food. I should also say the carb content is pretty high (even higher than bananas if i believe the literature), but i don't concern myself with that. Why? I weighed them out man! I've never had a balanced meal, using whole foods, that gave me a blood sugar spike. Remember, it's the blood sugar spike that triggers the insulin response, fat storage, cholesterol production, blah blah blah. So, no spike, no worry. Traditionally, plantains are sliced, deep fried, mashed, then fried again. I knew this would be too much fat for a balanced meal so i figured a way to make them by putting them first on the bbq and then frying them in coconut oil. YUM! Coconut oil in a hot pan is darn near as good as bacon fat when it comes to filling the kitchen with heavenly smells. If you're the cook, put on your favorite tune and just stand in front of the pan when it starts to sizzle and breathe deep - it's awesome!

Salmon w/Pineapple & Pantacones ... for 1 - 5 block meal

6 oz (raw weight) Wild Salmon (36P 15F)
4 oz sliced plantains (1 large plaintain will be plenty) (35C)
1 slice pineapple (3/4 " x 3-3.5 " dia) (11 C)
1 Table Spoon Coconut Oil (7F) *guessing the other 7 stays in the pan* It's 14F/TblS
Dash Red Cayenne Pepper
Sea Salt
"Old Bay" Spice
Pepper to taste
Cilantro or other greens as garnish.

A paleo friend of mine turned my on to "Old Bay" it's celery salt and various kinda hot spices. It's sold everywhere.



Coconut Oil (from Whole Foods):
The coconut oil does bump the fat content of this meal up above my target - solely because salmon really does have a lot of fat. So the meal is high in fat by about 6 gms. If you want it better balanced, use halibut instead. I lean towards salmon because of the Omega 3's. Plus, i'm not in "lean-up" mode right now so i have to add fats.


Preparation:
Start with the plantains. Slice them like this and wrap 1 layer of them in foil **rub coconut oil on the foil so that NO bare foil contacts the plantains** - or they will stick. I double wrapped mine and put them on the bbq - low heat - 10 minutes/side.

Leave the bbq on and remove the plantains. Take them out of the foil wrap and place them on parchment paper. Fold the parchment paper over so it's underneath and above the slices. Using any flat object, mash them down flat.

Put 1 table spoon of coconut oil in the pan and turn the heat on. Get the salmon and pineapple going on the bbq - pepper the salmon (black and cayenne) and use some of that "Old Bay", then put the plantains in the pan. They cook about as fast as the salmon so it should all be ready about the same time.

They are really good with a little salt and cayenne pepper. Now sit down and feel sorry for your non-paleo friends that are eating salmon and rice for the umpteenth zillionth time. :-)
Steve "Paleo"

Bison Breakfast

OK, I will get into this meal, but first, if you were at the Crossfit Games in Aromas last week, was that a phenomenal gathering of the world's scrappiest athletes or what? It was tremendously inspiring and motivating for me. No matter how hard i train, or how well i eat, i can always do better or do more and living in that environment for three days is just what i needed to push me to the next level. And for those that stopped me... "Hey, there's Paleo-Steve" ... thanks for chatting. Cool to have paleo friends :-). There's a CO games ("Colorado Open") Sept 12th - 13th at Front Range Crossfit in Denver - if you're nearby, participate or spectate, and prepare to be INSPIRED. I will be there for sure.

... I don't post too many breakfasts because they tend not to be so creative but this particular breakfast goes a long way towards explaining why there's absolutely no sacrifice to eating a paleo diet - I can't see who wouldn't be jealous of a meal like this. I also want to highlight bison - now that you can buy Bison NY Strip Steak at Costco, i'm calling it mainstream and one of the top choices for a caveman being that it's hormone free, antibiotic free, and free ranging. It is expensive at ~ $1/oz but what the hell, Lipitor is ~ $60/month and doesn't taste nearly as good! If you trim the fat, it's surprisingly lean at less than 2 gm fat/3.5 oz - and more than half of that is UN-saturated. This is way less than typical beef (although i'd like to see a side by side cube steak comparison), less than pork, and close or less than chicken - that according to highplainsbison.com. Is it true? Well, the cut i had was pretty darn lean, pretty tender , and had no obvious gristle. I did trim the fat around the edges. Of course, stone age man would have paid extra for that fat but then we are living in an "endless summer" and last i checked, Costco is open all winter so my survival is probably not at risk. Besides, i like my egg yolks! - and as you know, i'm all about a balanced meal. A friend of mine turned me on to parsley too - I especially like italian parsley and i've started to eat it in vast quantities. Try it.

5 Block Bison Breakfast
3.5 oz (post fat trim!) Bison Steak 22 gm P, 2 gm F
2 Eggs - 14 gm P 10gm F
1 lb Melon and Mixed Berries ~ 46 gm C
Italian Parsley

Check back soon - I'm working on a kinda Paleo Shepherd's Pie....

oh whoops, breaking news. I ordered real RAW cashews from TheRawFoodWorld.com - the flavor is no different from Costco "raw" (actually steamed) cashews but the texture is different. They're slightly less crunchy and for some reason, they're 10-20% bigger than any cashews i've seen. Maybe they shrink when they're steamed out of the shells? They're about 50% more expensive than ordinary cashews - not really worth it IMHO.

Cashew Curry Halibut

1st - let's talk cashews - Not paleo right? Because even when they're labeled raw, they've actually been "cooked" or steamed out of the shell. This is a way of avoiding contaminating the nut with urishol (that NASTY stuff that happens to also bless poison oak). Well i call Bull. 1st, i know of people who SUCK on poison oak leaves to gain immunity (don't try this at home). Second, you can buy them right here: www.therawfoodworld.com and they are ACTUALLY raw. So if someone tells you ALL cashews are cooked or would otherwise be toxic, and therefore NOT paleo, tell them they're full of twinkies because it's just NOT true. No one can prove stone age man ever ate cashews but lots of people don't even get poison oak, so it's imaginable to me that they could have been eaten by stone age people. And NO, I didn't use the REAL raw ones, mine were steamed out of the shell, but hell, I also cooked the halibut - so there! :-)
2nd- this meal will emphasize the zone portion of paleo-zone. Got the Crossfit Games coming up and I want to be just a little leaner. I know from experience that if i exactly zone the meal, the lean will come, and fast. Sadly, this is the 3rd time i've made this meal and the first time I got the scale and calculator out. Ouch! I've been a little lenient on the fat lately - not this time.
3rd - Halibut. I've eaten A LOT of halibut in my day - used to hunt them with a speargun. Only recently did i start buying them again. Do your best to get it from a reputable place. My last purchase was terrible - just as i was trying to impress - so now i'm gonna be really picky. Tonight's was yummy. Halibut is pretty lean - so it allows a coconut sauce splurge. It's also relatively low on the "contaminated fish" list http://www.arhp.org/publications-and-resources/quick-reference-guide-for-clinicians/fish-and-health/evidence. I weighed it out this time and realized given the chance, i probably eat TWICE as much as I should to get 35 gm protein. Again, get the dang scale out, and risk getting heckled by your family. Otherwise, you will not be eating zone proportions. Remember, your body is a drug factory responding to the foods you put in it. Every 4-5 hours there's a drug run. Don't be a victim.

This is a 5 block paleo-zone meal. Scale appropriately.

Cashew Curry Halibut
6 oz Halibut 35 gm P, 4 gm F
1/2 oz "Raw" Chopped Cashews 6 gm F , 4 gm C
1/4 Cup Coconut Milk (organic available at Whole Foods) 8g F, 2 gm C
1-1.5 teaspoon curry paste (red or green)

********************************************
6 oz Organic Cauliflower (prepared like Cauliflower "Rice" - see previous post) 9 gm C
(except - just fry with olive oil spray)
6 oz Organic Broccolini 11 gm C
4 oz Sliced Mango 19 gm C
Chopped Cilantro for garnish

Combine cashews, coconut milk, and curry paste in a small pan - turn heat on low.
Have your favorite person peel and slice the mango - arrange on plates.
Get the "paleo rice" going - I just added curry powder and a little cayenne pepper. Remember - microwave first.
Cook the halibut on the grill or in the oven - no added oil. But i spray the grill with olive oil.
Steam the Broccolini - It's pretty fast so get the water going and when the halibut is 1/2 done, throw the broccolini in.

If you're "lucky", everything will be done about the same time. I added a tablespoon of water to the sauce to thin it out a bit before putting over the halibut and broccolini.

Enjoy the meal - i think it has a nice "Thai" taste to it. Steve "Paleo"

Paleo Cookies - U asked for it!!

1st I gotta warn ya - it's hard not to be a glutton with these darn things. I came across this recipe last summer and enough people have asked about them (even my Mother!) that i figured I would go ahead and post it and just give credit where credit is due. I think i came across these at this site first http://crossfit-dover.com I would warn you against adding the protein powder (U can buy EGG protein powder BTW - not exactly delectable) that is mentioned as an option in the recipe at that site. I tried it - ack-pooeey! I'd put a chicken breast between two of these cookies before I do that again! I found apple juice sweetened cranberries at Whole Foods for this batch. I tried fresh blueberries too (instead of the cranberries) but the cookies go a little flatter so space them apart real good and don't burn them. In general i'd say dried fruit works best. Apricots would be yummy!

A note about honey and glycemic index... Honey runs between 61-64 compared to table sugar at 65-69. Agave, which probably would be an awesome substitute in this recipe, is just 15-19 - but it's expensive. Of course, this is all about keeping your blood sugar within orbit. I have to tell you though, I swear i ate a good 6 of these cookies tonight and i feel fine. I'm actually really sensitive these days, so it makes me wonder. Perhaps it's because so much protein and fat is also being ingested. I'm a true believer in experiment over propaganda and i just didn't get slammed by all that honey. So try the agave if you want, but i'm not going to lose any sleep over it. http://lifewiththegylcemicindexdiet.wordpress.com/agave-nectar/

.. and now i'm gonna rant about berries for a sec. If you're not chowing berries every day, U should be clubbed. Why? They probably most closely resemble true paleolithic food. Here's some science for ya. Fiber slows digestion down which naturally lowers the glycemic load of foods (remember, we want a steady burn - generally). More than one book i've read, pushes low carbs but they even allow you to substract fiber grams from the carb grams when figuring your allocation. So let's take a look at 2 cups blackberries - 15 gms of fiber! (28 g carbs) Let's see, that's 5 pieces of whole wheat toast! Blackberries even beat out broccoli BTW when it comes to amount of fiber per gram of carbs (broccoli is 4 g fiber per 10 g carb). Currently, I am eating 1-2 cups of berries every day as part of my 5 block breakfast. Most fruit seems to be about 1 g fiber per 10 gm carb. Blackberries and Raspberries stand way above other fruits (other berries even) when it comes to fiber so if you see a good price on them (like I did today at Costco), take them home and chow.

Here's that cookie recipe - but first - this is your chance to buy a food processor and have it pay dividends. Almond flour is super expensive for some reason (especially in Boulder). Raw almonds, ounce for ounce, are easily 1/3 the price around here - that's if you buy them in bulk at Costco in 3 lb bags.

**Paleo Cookies**
4 cups ground almonds (in the food processor if you can)
2 cups ground walnuts (Food Processor or DIY at Health Food Store - i did use a Braun coffee grinder once - messy)
2 cups heated raw organic honey (mixes easier that way)
1 cup chopped dry fruit (cranberries/raisins)
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Mix the dry stuff first, then add the honey. I like to refrigerate it at this point for about an hour so that it's easier to roll balls but it's not critical. Space them out quite a bit on a greased cookie sheet - these cookies do kinda go flat. Parchment paper really helps - use it if you got it because these suckers are stickyeeee! Bake at 15-20 minutes at 350. Really start checking after 15 minutes - cook them too much and you've got dog treats (trust me on this one). On the other hand, cook them just right and they do some frikin vanishing act - even with just me in the house!

Cheers! Steve "Paleo"