Ok, so I know the burger patty isn’t really ground-breaking paleo news but this little experiment turned out so good I had to post. I harvested way more than I thought I would out of our garden yesterday and wanted to incorporate the herbs into our dinner.

I chopped up about a handful of each of chives, oregano, sage, and parsley and tossed them into a bowl. Then I added: 

1 egg

2 lbs grass fed ground beef

1 can diced green chili

1/2 large onion, diced finely

Mix this up with your hands and divide into 8 patties, then grill how you like it. We added some slices of grass fed Kerrygold cheddar to ours.

For the Brussels sprouts:

Chop up two or three slices of raw bacon, to taste, and saute in a skillet or roasting pan. When it is almost done, add half a large onion, sliced thinly. Saute until brown. Add about 1 lb Brussels sprouts, chopped in halves. Saute for a few minutes, then add generous amounts of Balsamic vinegar, until each sprout is coated and there is excess in the pan. Add about 1/4 cup or less (to taste) of honey or maple syrup and generous sprinkling of cracked pepper. Simmer for 20 minutes, or until the sprouts are soft enough to eat. The balsamic and honey will have thickened to form a dark, sticky sauce.

I also had some large cabbage leaves from the garden, so we used them as “buns” on the burgers.

By Josh

This was one of those “lets take this and that out of the fridge and throw something together” type of meals. It actually turned out to be one of my favorites! The way I made it was actually not necessarily paleo because the thai chilli had sugar in it but you could easily find one without sugar, and use other seasonings other than temari. It was pretty awesome though…reminded me of PF Changs Lettuce wraps.

Thai Beef Cabbage Cups

Heat a pan with the sesame oil, and add the broccoli and water chest nuts. Season with the tamari. Saute until the broccoli turns bright green and set aside. Add some olive oil to the hot pan, crush all 4 cloves of garlic and add to the pan. Once the garlic is slightly brown add the beef and brown it. Once the beef if half way done add the veggies you set aside to the beef and then add the chilli sauce. Let that cook for another 10 mins and serve in the cabbage leaves.

Reposted from June

One of the most common complaints we hear from people just starting paleo is the expense. True, at first you will notice that you are paying more for your food. But what you are not taking into account is all the stuff you aren’t buying. Try adding up the cost of the sodas, pastas, boxes of cereal, milk, jars of sauces, alcohol, desserts, etc. that you aren’t buying and your new and improved grocery receipt won’t look so bad. But it is still a bit pricier depending on what stores you shop at. We’ve been working it down to a science so we can feed ourselves properly even when our budget doesn’t look so paleo-friendly. Aldi is a great place to start. Today, I spent $92.67 there on what you see in the picture above (it covered almost the entire dining table), and with a few supplementary items (probably $20-$30 worth) later in the week and a few things we already had, it will last us roughly 9-10 days. That’s between $10 and $13 a day to feed two people…not bad.  The dinner menu this week will include meatballs, chicken and sweet potatoes, spinach salads, grilled chicken drumsticks, shrimp and broccoli, hamburgers (bunless, of course) with sweet potato fries, and a salmon dish. Here’s what we bought:

Chicken drumsticks

Italian sausage

Six multi-colored bell peppers

3 Zucchinis

1 Cucumber

Four dozen eggs

Two packages of blueberries

Three packages of blackberries

Four packages of strawberries

One package of cherries

Two grapefruits

1 bag of apples

Two avocados

1 Cantaloupe

Unsalted butter

1 bag frozen broccoli

Two bags of sweet potatoes

Two bags of salmon

Two containers of salsa (the one with zero sugar…you have to watch the ingredients!)

1 bag shrimp

1 bag raw, unsalted almonds

1 whole chicken

3 lbs of ground turkey

3 lbs of ground beef

3 bags of fresh spinach

It will take me about an hour to get the fruits and veggies prepped so we use them before they go bad and always have them easily accessible. This is a weekly chore that makes cooking and packing lunches immensely easier.

There are a few things you can’t get at Aldi, such as coconut milk, nitrate free bacon, and almond butter, but Sprouts is close to Aldi (if you shop at the one on Hulen) and you can find those things there if you really want them.

You also cannot find grassfed or organic meat at Aldi. It is definitely better to buy grassfed, organic and free range meats, but if you are on a budget it is 100 percent better to eat conventionally raised meats than it is to eat grains or soy instead.

So…. I saw this amazing looking bacon thing here: http://fastpaleo.com/bacon-crusted-quiche

I started to make it, but I wanted to make a giant pan of something to last for a few days and my ingredients didn’t match up so I made some changes. What came out of the oven was magical. Here’s what I did:

Ingredients:
14 eggs
1 cup green chili
Salt and pepper to taste (not much! A quarter teaspoon of salt at most, trust me)
1/2 cup heavy cream (grass fed)
2 tablespoons garlic
1 lb pork sausage
2 lbs bacon
1 whole zucchini

Directions:
Sautée sausage and zucchini a in a stovetop and oven safe broiling pan. Mine is 9″x16″ and works well. Whisk eggs, garlic, spices, cream and green chili in a bowl until well-combined. When sausage and zucchini are about half cooked, cover with egg mixture. Put the whole thing in the oven for 18 minutes at 400 degrees. When you remove it, change the oven to broil. Place the bacon on the cooked egg mixture in the crisscrossed pattern pictured. Place the pan back in the oven on the top rack for seven to eight minutes, or until the bacon is browned (watch it closely). When you take it out, you may need to pour off a bit of the bacon grease to save for another recipe.
Enjoy!

This recipe, when divided into sixteen small portions, has roughly 200 calories, 12 grams of protein and 16 grams of fat. I rarely tabulate these numbers but was really curious!

Ok, this is a pretty simple one. But paleo is best when you stick to the basics! We all love eggs and bacon, but sometimes there’s no time to stand over the stove watching it or we don’t want to get the kitchen greasy. No matter…. There is another way. Just line a cookie sheet with foil, and place the bacon and eggs (yes, raw, uncracked eggs) on the cookie sheet. Add a bit more foil, crumpled, to keep the eggs in place (or, put them separately in a muffin tin). Place the sheet in the oven for seventeen minutes at 400 degrees. Then go about the business of getting dressed, or whatever it is that you have to do. When you take it out of the oven, let it cool for a few minutes, drain the grease to keep for another recipe, and enjoy perfectly cooked bacon and hard boiled eggs. Add some berries if you like fruit in the morning!

This is just an easy twist on an old favorite!

Ingredients:
2 lbs ground beef
1 egg
About a cup of green chili
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
Two cans stewed tomatoes
1 cup chicken broth
A dash of chili powder and cumin
Cooking oil

Place raw beef, egg, 1/4 c. Green chili, salt and pepper in a bowl and mix thoroughly with hands. Form into seven balls. Heat the cooking oil (about a tablespoon) in a deep pot or a Dutch oven and place the meatballs in the pan. Let them cook on medium high for a few minutes and flip. Add the remaining green chili, tomatoes, and chicken broth. Add chili pepper and cumin to taste. It will be ready to eat in as little as 20 minutes if you cover and simmer on medium, but is best when simmered on low for an hour to two hours.

It’s the first day of the challenge! I’m already hearing that people are having a hard time with breakfast. We are raised from children to be cereal fiends…we’ve been told those whole grains and skim milk are healthy our whole lives, so it’s perfectly understandable to have a hard time letting it go. At this link are many breakfast ideas…I suggest you take a few minutes this weekend and cook a double or triple batch of one of them so you have next week’s breakfasts ready to go!

http://fwhuntergatherer.com/category/breakfast/

Be sure to check out our meeting tonight at 7:30 p.m. at the box to hear all the details. In the meantime, here are the parameters of the challenge:

What not to eat or drink:

1. Grain: this means wheat, corn, rice, barley, quinoa, oats, millet, etc.
2. Sugar, artificial sweeteners, ingredients you can’t pronounce (no soda or diet soda, no soy lecithin, no msg)
3. White potatoes
4. Legumes: this means peanuts, beans, edamame, etc.
5. Any soy product
6. Anything with partially hydrogenated fats, or anything processed
7. Conventional dairy: this includes milk, cheese, yogurt, kefir, etc. (this excludes butter)
8. Beer
9. Nitrates or preservatives (found in lunch meat and bacon)
10. Alcohol

What to eat and drink:

1. Lean meats like beef, turkey, chicken, lamb, pork loin
2. Some fatty meats, like bacon, brisket, or ribs. These should be eaten moderately.
3. Eggs
4. Vegetables, especially leafy greens
5. Fruit, but in moderation
6. Nuts, but in moderation
7. Coconut milk and coconut (unsweetened)
8. Sweet potatoes
9. Almond milk
10. Raw or minimally processed dairy from grassfed cows, in moderation.
11. Good quality whey protein if you want to gain weight.
12. Good fat such as olive oil, nuts, avocados, coconut oil, butter
13. Water
14. Coffee, espresso, tea (in moderation, no more than one a day)

A word about moderation:

Nuts: a hand full or two a day is plenty. Too many nuts can have an adverse effect and ruin what we are trying to accomplish. You will get most of your fat from your meat, and if you add fat stick with avocado and coconut.

Fruit: It’s good, but fruit is also sugar — especially bananas, grapes and watermelon. One to two servings of fruit a day is plenty, possibly a little more if you trained extra hard that day.

Sweet potatoes: sweet potatoes are a great carbohydrate source but will serve you better as part of a post workout meal.

Alcohol: (obvious reasons) too much messes you up and can mess up this challenge! If you must have a drink, stick to clear liquors with water or club soda and stick to one a day.

Eat to satiety: Just because some things are good and healthy doesn’t mean you should stuff your face till you’re going to pop. Eat some good meat, eat plenty of veggies and eat some good fat. When you’re not hungry anymore stop eating and eat again when you are hungry. It’s that simple.

Grass Fed/organic/free range

We believe it’s better to eat grass fed meat, free range eggs, organic fruits and veggies, etc. but it is not required for this challenge, except for dairy.

Rules 

1. The entry fee is $30.
2. Each participant gets a special sweatshirt at the end of the challenge. In order to receive your sweatshirt, you must complete all 28 days of food logs.
3. You may have your body fat and/or before and after pictures taken. This is optional.

Our 28-day primal challenge starts Feb. 28! We will have an informational meeting this Friday, Jan. 18, at 6:30 at the box. Let us know if you want to participate!

Someone said “chicken fried steak” in a random conversation recently and it made Kyle and I crave it! So I looked up “paleo chicken fried steak” and there are dozens of recipes floating out there. Most of them were either really complicated or I didn’t have all of the ingredients on hand, so I took a chance and made one up. It worked…we loved it. Here it is:

For the crust/batter:

1 and 1/4 cups almond meal/flour

4 tablespoons coconut flour

3/4 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. pepper (or other spices, to taste)

2 eggs

For steak:

2 lbs grassfed ground beef

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. pepper (or other spice, to taste)

Directions:

On a plate, mix up all the dry ingredients. Beat the eggs in a pie pan or wide bowl.

Put salt/pepper/spices in the meat and mix up. Divide meat into six balls, then pat each down to about a half inch thick “steaks”. Dip them each into the egg, and then coat them with the almond flour mixture.

After they are all dipped and coated, heat up a couple of tablespoons of coconut oil (I use expeller pressed — it is flavorless and odorless and is just as good for you as the regular kind) on the stovetop. I use a broiler pan spread over two burners so they can all go in the same pan. Brown for about two minutes on each side on medium heat. When the crust looks crispy/browned, transfer the dish to the oven heated at 350 degrees. It takes ten to fifteen minutes once transferred, but check it every five minutes the first time you do it because it is very easy to overcook, depending on the thickness of your patties.

I haven’t mastered the art of Paleo gravy yet, but when I do I will post it!