Ribs, Sweet Potato Fries, and Rhubarb Surprise!

This is just good comfort food and if you're a rhubarb fan, you're in for a guiltless paleo feast. First a word about spices - don't be cheap. Find a spice shop, virtual or brick 'n mortar, and get the good stuff. I did recently, and man it makes a difference. You'll see I included shallot salt - awesome stuff but you may not find it at your local haunt. Smoked paprika is another one - get it. You might spend a little more but remember, it cost less than open heart surgery so splurge a little - money well spent. This meal is close to 5 blocks (ignore the wine - more about that later). I can't figure exactly how much fat and meat in on a rib - i don't have a calorimeter dang it.







Ribs, Fries, and Rhubarb Surprise

About 6 pork ribs - i buy the stuff from Costco. Get higher quality if you can.
Dry rub them with shallot salt, lemon pepper, smoked paprika, garlic powder, and celery salt. Get the barbecue going.
Now slice 8 oz of sweet potato ( I like the garnet ones). Melt a about a tablespoon or so of coconut oil and coat them with it. Arrange on a baking sheet and sprinkle with shallot salt, cayenne pepper (not too much), and sea salt. Get that oven pre-heated to 425F. The ribs and sweet potatoes took about 30 minutes for me - so i would start them at the same time. When they're nearly done, get about 3 oz of snowpeas, spice 'em up, and saute in a little coconut oil. Now about that wine! I don't normally plug wine. It's debatable (but arguable) paleo food. However, health-wise, few debate that a little red wine is good for you. I paired a 2006 Beauregard Cabernet Sauvignon with this dish - FANTASTIC. I know Ryan Beauregard - he's out in California, not paleo but he LOOKS at bit paleo ;-) Either way, he makes great wine and he ships it Beauregard Vineyards
I know you've been patiently waiting for desert - here it is...

Hot Rhubarb with Coconut Ice Cream!
6 oz chopped rhubarb
1/2 teaspoon orange peel zest
1 tablespoon maple syrup
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup coconut ice cream
Don't eat any rhubarb leaves, cuz, ummm, it'll kill ya and someone will have to right a book and postulate where you stubbed your toe on this paleo gig.. So, get a small skillet - add water and rubarb and heat to boiling. Once rhubarb starts to soften and water is nearly gone, add maple syrup, orange zest, and cinnamon.
Keep heating/stirring for another 5 minutes. Place in two small bowls and add 2 tablespoons each coconut ice cream (coconut bliss and purely decadent are good brands - sells at Whole Paycheck here in Boulder). Or you can top with coconut whipped cream per previous post..) It's tart and yummy - enjoy! Steve "Paleo"
PrimitiveFoods.com

Whipped Coconut Cream!

Wow have i been a posting slacker!! Well, don't want to bore you with variations of the same old $hit but this is pretty good and i'll post a rib recipe shortly that's worthy. I think with the competitive crossfit season just around the corner, i'm regaining a little more inspiration :)

Every once in awhile, something comes along that changes your eating habits - this tip from Alistair Boyd of Singapore, and a GF addicted to whipped cream in her coffee, set me in motion. He told me he was making his own whipped cream from coconut cream using a whip-it! dispenser, so i experimented forwards and backwards with it (like a good little engineer) and settled on a recipe that i've been enjoying daily. Seriously, give this a try and you'll never look back.

Here's what you do:
Get one of these bad boys from Amazon - they're about $45. Comes with NO2 cartridges but buy some extra ones. I bought a "Whip-it!" brand - Swiss made - wohoo. They come in different sizes. I think 1/2L is the best. The 1 Litre is a monster that barely fits in the fridge and takes two NO2 cartridges. Coconut cream is not very easy to find so I would just recommend to buy canned coconut milk - I like Thai Kitchen brand. Also get some vanilla extract and real maple syrup.

Mix all this in a bowl with a whisker.

12-16 oz coconut milk or coconut cream
1 - 1.5 Teaspoons Vanilla Extract
1/4 cup pure maple syrup

Put this mixture in your dispenser, gas it up, shake it, and put it in the fridge. Coconut milk gets really thick in the fridge but the maple syrup helps a bit (don't try honey - way too thick). It dispenses a little better if you take it out of the fridge for a bit. This is GREAT with coffee, berries, on key lime pie - geez, let your imagination go wild.
Oh ya, one more thing, if you're wondering how heavy whipping cream might work in the whip-it!, ummm, ya that's what i have in the 1 Liter monster ( 1 quart heavy whipping cream, 1/2 cup maple syrup, 1 tablespoon vanilla). I'm ashamed to say I get busted on a regular basis squeezing the trigger on that one...

Enjoy!
Steve "Paleo"
PrimitiveFoods

Cutting Loose with Bison-Kale and the Norcal Margarita

I've been eating variations of this meal for awhile - time to share! But first, a little education. People often ask "Where do I get my calcium when eating this paleo scam?" The answer of course, is the same place cows get it - greens - unless you're just jamming them full of grains which is a whole udder topic. So, how much calcium IS in greens? Well, oz for oz, there's more calcium in kale than milk. Ya ya, 8 oz of kale would be impressive, but you see my point. Eat lots of dark greens and you'll be fine.


OK... on to the recipe..This is a completely balanced 5 block meal that cooks in 9 minutes flat.

5 oz bison (I used Great Range sirloin steak)
2 oz kale - chopped
6 oz garnet yams - chopped ( be lazy and don't peel it )
2 mushrooms - sliced
small handful of diced red onion.
1 Tablespoon coconut oil

Get a big skillet on the stove - good and hot - put the coconut oil in it. When that's hot, add the yams. Keep flipping and after 4 minutes, add mushrooms and onions. After a couple more minutes, push to the side and add kale and bison. Bison is SO lean, you barely want to cook it. Keep pan covered now but every 45 seconds, uncover and stir. Spices - i like celery salt and lemon pepper. Ready in 9 minutes... enjoy!

Now.. what you've been waiting for.. i've yet to find a paleo nut that doesn't appreciate this margarita and since beer effs me up these days, this IS the beverage of choice.I first heard of the norcal margarita from Robb Wolf's Podcast which I highly recommend. Here's the "recipe"..

ice
juice of 1 lime
2 shots tequila
diet tonic water*

* he prolly didn't call this out but it makes a huge difference to me (ya there's artificial sweetener in that stuff - but hell, it's an alcoholic beverage!) Oh, one last thing, don't be cheap. Get the good stuff for crying out loud - cuz gawd knows you're saving on health care and the recipes are free ;-)
Eat Well! Steve "Paleo"
PrimitiveFoods.com

Coconut Butter Bars

I've been looking for an excuse to highlight a product called "Artisana Organic Coconut Butter". If you're with the crossfit crowd, you may have noticed a happy face or two walking around with a jar of this and a big spoon - it's yummy - no doubt. Oh and um Ya it's mostly saturated fat, and, umm, Nope, i don't care (read up on medium chain triglycerides - your body would rather use this as fuel than store it). The rest of the ingredients are just naturally hanging out in my pantry - hopefully true at your house too. This recipe was bound to happen. I'd been fooling around making "fudgy" stuff and then a friend of mine, Laura (who has made a LIVING doing stuff like this!), described a date ball she used to make. Game ON!! U can find this coconut butter at Whole Paycheck and on-line. And NO, Artisana doesn't "sponsor" me and YES they should ;-) You might add different kinds of nuts or seeds to these. Pretty sure even cat turds would be good mixed with this stuff...No need to bake 'em - just start stuffing your pie hole :)

Coconut Butter Bars

1/2 Cup pecans
6 pitted dates
1 Tablespoon cocoa powder
2 Tablespoons coconut butter
2 Tablespoons unsweetened shredded coconut (in bulk at WF)

Put it all in your food processor. Shape into bars and coat with more coconut. It only makes 7 - U may want to scale it up!


Eat Well!
Steve Paleo
PrimitiveFoods.com

oh heck! almost forgot! If you're competing at The Games in 2 weeks, Good Luck! ..and look for me.. Go team FLATIRONS!!!

Paleo Shitake Spinach Souffle

WOW - the competitive crossfit season is upon us! So cool to bump into people i've only known briefly or thru the virtual world. This is also causing me to reflect a bit on the past year or so... and i'll make it brief..i look around and i see so many people that are getting stronger and healthier as a result of crossfit and paleo lifestyle. This is NOT like watching gold fish grow - they literally transform before your eyes. Very stoked to be a part of it and a small contributor to the movement (should i be ashamed that the mention of gold fish got me thinking about recipes?? ;-)
Also, a quick shout-out to FrontRange Crossfit who ran the US North-Central Regional Crossfit Games just south of Denver. Great event, frackin AMAZING athletes, and the characteristic camaraderie. Skip Miller and his team did an outstanding job organizing a flawless event. My team, Flatirons Crossfit, qualified for THE GAMES in LA (!!) -Holy $hit! That is still sinking in! The best of the best will be there. I'm VERY excited!.... Well Krap! Better start fueling this hunt!
Spinach souffle has always been a comfort food for me but of course store bought has wheat flour, soybean oil, sugar, blah blah... screw that. This is REALLY good, easy to make, and WAY better than what you'll buy in the store - trust me! I will admit i'm going a little low-carb here... I want to be 100% optimized for the Games and from that carb-cycling thingy I did, I think i can tweak things down just a bit and get good results. It's a VERY fine line to gain muscle while minimizing bodyfat and I encourage everyone to experiment and find what works best for you.

Paleo Shitake Spinach Souffle
5 oz organic baby spinach - finely chopped (basically 2 big handfuls of leaves)
2 slices bacon - chopped
4 shitake mushrooms - chopped
1 Cup grated celery root (can leave it out if you can't find it...)
2 Scallions (green onions) chopped
4 Eggs and 10 egg whites (don't bitch.. they're cheap ;-) *
Celery salt - few shakes
1/2 Cup Coconut Milk (Thai Kitchen if you can find it)
1/4 Avocado - sliced (garnish)
10 Pecan halves - chopped (garnish)
1 tsp coconut oil (garnish)

* Tip.. i buy expensive eggs, high in omega 3, and really cheapo ones. If i'm including the yokes, i use the expensive one. For whites, i use the cheap ones (apologies to my dog Bear who has to eat cheap yokes ;-)

Nutrition: 1/2 this pie is about 4.3 blocks protein, 14 blocks fat, and 1.5 blocks carb for a total of 550 Calories [don't kid yourself - that pic above was for my daughter. I ate 1/2 easily!]. It's basically 3X fat and REAL low on the carbs. If that's too extreme for you, leave out 1 slice of bacon and the coconut oil and you'll be down to 2X fat. Want close to a 4 block PZ meal? Leave out 1 slice of bacon, use 18 egg whites, and skip the pecans and coconut oil.

Chop up the raw bacon and get it cooking in the pan. While it's cooking, grate celery root, chop onions and mushrooms. When the bacon is nearly done, add all that stuff (seriously, it needs to be almost done. Otherwise, it kinda stays too fatty). Let it saute on low heat while you chop the spinach and put it in a big bowl. Add eggs, coconut milk, and finally the saute ingredients. Add a few shakes of celery salt. Mix throughly and pour into a deep 9" glass pie pan (it will barely fit). Now lightly roast chopped pecans in the coconut oil - it's really more about coating them with the oil (umm pause here and take a big whiff - coconut oil in the pan smells better than your first date ;-). Spoon on top of souffle and keep towards the center. Cook 35-40 minutes at 350 - check the center with a knife. Should come out clean. Garnish with sliced avocado. Now don't laugh... if you're looking for about 35 gm protein, eat half of this baby! Serious! Now feel sorry for the poor sap eating microwaved Stouffer's out of a plastic baking dish!

Eat Well! Steve "Paleo"
PrimitiveFoods.com

Kick A$$ Paleo Key Lime Pie

This recipe seemed criminally obvious when i first thought about it, however, it took a little doin'. BUT, before I go there... Want to give a shout-out to Crossfit Verve - Matt and Cherie (think "6 Million Dollar Man" meets "GI Jane" - and you'll already have a good picture), with the help of many generous volunteers, ran the Mountain Sectionals in Golden, Colorado - it was a fantastic event with clever WODs and camaraderie in abundance. Matt Chan is the kinda guy that, if he's NOT your friend, you WISH he was. Just a solid friendly dude with an easy smile. He gave the Sectionals a family feel, like you were surrounded by brothers and sisters - he's really the epitome of a crossfit athlete. And Cherie, Whooa! Unfortunately i did not see her judging because she is truly amazing. That girl can guaranteed yank a PR out of you, with forceps, rubber boots, and a stiff heel if she has too ;-) She is incredible - seriously. What a dynamic duo they make. I have yet to leave a Crossfit competition with out feeling inspired and encouraged and this one was no exception - so THANK YOU Matt and Cherie - it was memorable.
Macro-Nutrient Cycling - well i better give a quick update on this.. I only lasted 6 weeks :-(. I wasn't getting the results i expected (ie buy new shirts cuz gettin SO massive) and, umm I'm a fruit junky - apparently. Also, the load meals were painful - not something to look forward to. In defense of Faigan, I really couldn't load as he described - mostly starchy carbs. I was just too uncomfortable. I also tend to do some very long duration med-intensity stuff on weekends (backcountry splitboarding) and i just couldn't hang with the super low carbs while humping my pack up to 11,000 ft. I WILL say it leaned me out pretty quick,i felt fine during WODs, and i added 25 lbs to my dead lift. I know i'm just N=1 and some people do better on lower carbs overall and dig chowin macnuts & avocado all day (actually, seems like MANY people) - just not optimum for me. So, i'm back to standard 5 block PZ meals... well, AFTER these key-lime pie trials! Who knows, i may dial back the carbs just a little going forward... OK.... ON with it already...
Key Lime Pie - normally it's made with a graham cracker crust (crushed graham cracker, sugar, and a lotta butta). Which forces me to ask "What the hell IS graham?" That's the first clue you shouldn't be eating it btw. It's "fine ground white flour with coarse ground wheat bran and germ" - according to Wikepedia. Scary - I really had to look it up. Graham crackers have a high glycemic load - right up there with coke and vanilla wafers. Maybe something to be avoided unless you think "metabolic syndrome" sounds like a good time ;-) Another common ingredient in KLP is sweetened condensed milk. Coconut milk to the rescue...

Kick A$$ Paleo Key Lime Pie
1/8 Pie = 21C, 23F, 8 P)

Preheat oven to 350F

Crust:
1.5 cups whole almonds
4 pitted dates
1 Tablespoon Coconut Oil
(I didn't make up the date part.. here's some paleo crust recipes)
Put it all in a food processor and stop just short of nut-butter
Dump it into a standard pie pan (smear with coconut oil first) and, with your fingers, just mush it flat. Don't bother going all the way up the sides with it - though a visible crust looks good, you have to worry about it burning in the oven - too complex for a lazy caveman. Form the crust so it goes about half way up the sides. Pre-bake at 350 for 6-8 minutes - should be just a tad golden.

Filling:
4 teaspoons lime zest (you know... get the grater out)
1/2 Cup lime juice (fresh of course)
3 Tablespoons agave syrup (can use honey)
2 Tablespoons coconut flour
3 eggs
1 Cup Coconut Milk (Thai Kitchen brand recommended)
Get a whisk and mix it up real good. When pie shell is done, dump filling into shell and put back in oven for another 25-30 minutes (filling should appear to be set up). Hopefully the crust is actually covered. If not, don't let it burn - cover with foil near the end if you have to.
Key limes are these itty bitty limes that are slightly better than real limes but WAY more work. I used 20 to make ONE of the pies - fairly redonkulous. Even then i needed extra limes to get more juice. I swear more seeds than juice came out of some of those little buggers. I would buy 3 as "evidence" but use regular limes instead ;-) I made it both ways -hardly tell the difference. This pie really needs to cool and IS better the next day but i'd be a hypocrite if i told you to wait.
I'm embarrassed to say i've had this every night for the past 4 nights! For a 5 block meal, it's quite reasonable to combine this with a good portion of veggies and some lean meat. I hope you enjoy it as much as I have. It kicks A$$!
Eat Well! Steve "Paleo"
PrimitiveFoods.com

Bacon-Shitake Lamb Chops w/Walnut Guacamole

Just in time for Valentine's Day - This meal will impress your Paleo buddy and it's easy/fast to make. Before we get there though - a little rant...
This is probably insanity, but i'm gonna talk about cholesterol, specifically MY cholesterol. Now hold on, i know you don't give a rat's a$$ about some paleo punk's lipid profile, but hold your water... How often do you find someone with terrible cholesterol, on drugs for many years, who tells his doctor to shove it and goes Paleo, full tilt, for 1.5 yrs, drugless, and lives to tell about it? ;-) So, on the slim chance some of you care about what all this does under the hood, here's a very short glimpse/summary by admittedly a non-doctor, non-nutritionist, non-dietician, paleo-punk.

If you're interested, and thus familiar, with all these numbers, the data is pretty self-evident so i won't jibber jabber along. I will say i'm pissed that i was not given the right information when i asked the doc what to change in my diet. So instead, i stuffed a white pill down my beak for several years. Bottom line, a PZ diet is almost as good as straight Lipitor and if i get my HDL up a little more, it will be equivalent - at least on this sample of one. And here's what really blows.. Doc says cut back on red meat and eggs. What did I do? Ate more! I'm not happy about the HDL (future experiment..) but it is what it is. This is also not an "iso-body-weight" experiment - leaned up on that PZ stuff. Couldn't help it, ain't goin back...BTW, Lipitor is about $1/day. U do the math... OK... enough ranting.

Bacon-Shitake Lamb Chops with Walnut Guacamole
... this is enough for two 35 gm P meals. It's low carb/high fat. Sub it for a standard 5 block PZ meal just for fun.

Enough Lamb Chops to yield 12 oz meat - I buy it at Costco and trim the meat off the bone. It's from down-under - darn good.
1 Full Cup sliced shitake mushrooms
1 green onion - finely chopped
2 slices bacon
1 sprig fresh rosemary - finely chopped
2 tablespoon olive oil - 1 for lamb, one for mushrooms/onions
1/2 tsp Worcestershire Sauce
celery salt and pepper to taste

Preparing the lamb and mushrooms:
Trim lamb meat off the bone - lose the fat.
Get Bacon going in the pan - when done, remove, but leave bacon fat
Add 1 Tablespoon (if necessary) olive oil and saute mushrooms and scallions, when almost done, add rosemary. Break up bacon and add to mushrooms. Keep warm.

With really hot pan, add olive oil then 10 oz lamb. Add celery salt, pepper, Worcestershire sauce. Saute 'till done. Dish it up and top with mushroom saute. I garnished with some yellow pepper but whatever fresh veggie you have in the fridge will do, just to add some color.



Guacamole - you can buy this pre-made. This is simplified- based on what i had on hand. You should prepare this ahead of the lamb and have it already on the plate.
1 1/2 Avocado
1 scallion - finely chopped
1/2 tsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp pepper
1 tsp salt
Mix well, put on some romaine or other leafy green, top with walnuts.
... U might serve a glass of red dependent upon the occasion ;-) If you haven't had lamb lately, you're in for a real treat.
Last thing is a status on the whole macro-nutrient cycling (MNC) experiment i'm doing. I was inspired by Rob Faigin. Where am I at on it after ~4 weeks? Well, at the risk (probably high) of appearing vain, right about here... Now this is 1.5 yrs of PZ and ~4 weeks of MNC so don't draw conclusions yet. I can say it's not HURTING me but i'm on the fence about how much it's helping me. BTW, i'm not on any sauce, helpers, HGH, or supplements of dubious origin - and never was. On occasion, i will take creatine, glutamine, glucosamine,and fish oil - but it's irregular.

The other night, right after a FRAN workout, i did my carb-up meals. The next day I felt HUGE, like someone turned a switch on. IDK, gotta keep going with it. Will do my post MNC crossfit total in 4 weeks and more blood work. The other reason i posted this vanity shot, and the lipid table, is to hopefully encourage the old (yes i'm 47) and the young to read the books, question the docs, lift heavy $hit, crossfit 'till U puke, eat a PZ diet, and make up your mind. For the first time ever, we're getting good information on fitness and nutrition - and it works. Thank you Crossfit, Audette, Cordain, Wolf, Sears, Taubes, Wiley, and many others. If you don't know what i'm talking about, ask them (they figured it out), or ask me (a practitioner with an eye for detail - i hope).
Eat Well! Steve "Paleo"
PrimitiveFoods.com