Delicious Progress!

Let me tell you something: having a food diary WORKS!

Since keeping records of every tiny little thing I've been eating (yes, I document those four fries I stole from Whitney's lunch) I have lost 10 lbs! I started February 29th and am now at 220 lbs, the lowest I've been since last summer.

This could be due to a number of things:

1) Keeping my carbs under 100 g

2) Started taking DCI, which has triggered weight loss for some women

3) Keeping my fat % at around 55-65%

My appetite has also dropped because I feel satiated longer. I recently added some whey protein (Cyto they sell in CostCo) so that has bolstered my protein intake and keeps me quite full. I've been drinking it in the morning because frankly, I'm a little tired of scrambled eggs.

In any case, I've concocted a delicious recipe after trudging through my fridge in hopes of something new and delightful. I found a bag of Broccoli Slaw that was on its way out -- that "I need to use this now or just throw it away" stage. I had attempted a stirfry with another bag of slaw once upon a time and had been less than impressed so I decided to try and create a primal coleslaw. Not only have I succeeded but it was so delicious it may very well become a summer staple!

Creamy Primal Slaw

1 package Broccoli Slaw

1 TB Dijon mustard (I used Hearty Spicy)

1 TB Apple Cider Vinegar

1 TB Lemon juice

2 drops Stevia -- for those who like true tang you could leave this out

Salt & Pepper to taste

1/4 cup goat cheese

1/4 of a large sweet onion, sliced and diced

4 slices peppered bacon, cooked and crumbled

1 TB mayo (sour cream or yogurt could easily suffice, I just happened to have mayo on hand)

1 medium cucumber, cut however you prefer

1/4 cu sliced almonds

Wisk together mustard, vinegar, lemon juice, stevia, goat cheese, salt, pepper, and mayo until goat cheese has been distributed and the dressing is smooth. You can adjust the stevia for the desired sweetness. Mix in the remaining ingredients until evenly coated. Chill in the fridge or serve immediately.

This recipe can easily be adjusted with different veggies, meats, or cheeses. I can see sliced apple being an excellent addition or subbing out almonds for walnuts.

Oh nooooooo :)

It's been so long! I have neglected my blog because life, as you all know, is in the way! Fortunately, during this time I have been cooking, eating, and coming up with new ways to entertain myself in the kitchen.

I've also made a change very recently that I hope will further improve my PCOS symptoms. As most of you know when I first started primal eating I lost 25 lbs in a very short period of time. However, I have also struggled to lose any weight since that initial 25. I suspect insulin resistance and my own wavering commitment to primal is behind it. SO -- I am hoping to achieve further results with some changes.

1. I've started a food diary on Livestrong.com so I can track actual carbs

2. I just finished my first week of taking D-Chiro-Inositol, a supplement that had very promising results in a clinical study with insulin resistance

3. I have added a woman's multi vitamin that contains vitex, blue cohosh, manganese, lutein, etc etc etc. I am also committing to taking my fish oil capsules more regularly.

I've been pretty good with my eating but my soda addiction has reared its ugly head once more. I wish soda would be blasted off the face of the earth. It is my Achilles heel in every

sense. However, I have found something that I like drinking almost as much as I like drinking soda.

Cue magic and angels and shyte...

Lindsay's Tea & Lemonade

2 tea bags of flavors you like (I use Wild Berry)

1/3 cu lemon juice or a whole lemon

2 dropper full additions of Stevia

1-2 TB honey (this isn't required but I like the flavor it adds)

A lot of water

You can adjust the servings to get the taste you want and just recently I've been adding a cup of POM Juice. This is refreshing and faaaaar less sugar/carbs than soda obviously. The

lemon adds a nice zing and you can easily adjust it to make it sweeter or less sweet. Since this is a soda replacement I use a lot more Stevia than some people would prefer. You can also zest this up with oranges, lemons, other citrus fruits if you can tolerate fruit. But just the plain tea, lemon, and sweetener approach is surprisingly satisfying. I prefer it iced but you can rock a hot, sweet tea if you like.

Stay tuned for further updates:

A life of a can of pumpkin

Latkes!

And of course, more recipes will continue to come your way as I develop/find/experiment with them. Hope you're all satiated and feeling primal today!

Ugh.

So the past couple of days I've been off my game quite a bit.

Sunday:

Woke up with a headache which continued to evolve into a full-blown tension headache with migraine characteristics. Nausea, light sensitivity -- luckily Whitney was able to get me to sleep with her wonderful peppermint essential oil. A dab on the neck and on the pillow really helped relieve the tension enough to sleep.

Monday:

Woke up feeling good -- fasted for most of the morning except for some cups of coffee. Felt desperate to keep that horrible headache from resurfacing. I ate a big ass salad for an early dinner then another salad at a restaurant during our rabbit meeting. I made my own salad dressing using direction from Whitney's mom. Have to play with the proportions to get it where you want it.

Delicious Salad Dressing:

- lemon juice

- olive oil

- apple cider vinegar

- brown mustard

- honey or agave

- salt and pepper

I also came to the conclusion that it is the bacon that gave me the bad headache. I had 6 slices on Sunday and today I had 1 and a half of a slice with my salad. Shortly after I started to get aura sensations and a distant throbbing in my head. Luckily it went away after I ate some more food. I think it's definitely the nitrites so going to skip the bacon unless I can find a good deal on the uncured stuff. I also had a soda at the restaurant and a couple of french fries! >.<

Came home, cleaned the bedroom and drank a lot of water. Overall, I felt much better than I did on Sunday. Eating less food seemed to help and so I'm going to try and be a little less gluttonous over the next few days.

Tuesday:

Today I woke up to a leaking bathroom -- there's a leak somewhere on the roof. When it warms up and rains it seems to leak like the dickens though I can't pinpoint where its coming from. Sigh.

Mentally: A little fuzzy but pretty good. Had very vivid dreams last night.

Physically: Craving water and feeling up to talking a walk or doing something remotely active. But I have rabbit cages to clean and we have to change the oil in the car.

Menu Check-in:

Breakfast - Made a scramble of four eggs, cheddar, avocado, and green onions. Salt and pepper to taste. Simple and delicious. Wasn't really hungry but figured I should start off with some protein and good fat. I think I'm also going to make some coffee but about half what I normally do.

No idea what I'm going to eat the rest of the day, will update later today.

Oh man.

So I have to make an amendment to my menu check in for yesterday. I had two glasses of hot chocolate. I know, I know.... DAMN THE HOLIDAYS! The in-laws brought us massive quantities of cookies, sweets, and two large canisters of Williams-Sonoma hot chocolate. Sigh. Well, it's a special treat I guess and I was having MASSIVE sugar cravings last night. I ate a ton of cream cheese too.

Today is better. I feel more normal, less cravings, less hungry. I'm a little tired of the "everythin

g soup" but thankfully ate the last of it today. I also had fun with spices and made my own spicy pepper

mix since I love hot and my wife does not.

Hot Pepper Mix

- Cayenne Pepper powder

- Chili powder

- Crushed Red Pepper

- A touch of Sweet Paprika

- A touch of Cumin

ALSO -- went to Safeway today planning to pick up coconut milk and cheese.... Huzzah! Tons of meat was on clearance. Over 50% off for all-natural organic chicken thighs. We're talking $1.29/lb for boneless/skinless. And I picked up some london broil for 50% off sticker price. We stocked up quite a bit and now our freezer

looks much happier and full of good food. Plus we got some Foster Farms chicken for the kitties because it was also ridiculously cheap. Yay!

I also... got some Bolthouse Farms stuff. I love Bolthouse, I really do. And they make for a great snack or breakfast if I'm in a pinch. Just found out about bullet proof coffee? Must try this.

Perfectly Protein Vanilla Chai Tea:
Soy milk from concentrate (water, soy milk concentrate), cane sugar, soy protein isolate, green tea (water, green tea), natural flavor, calcium (tricalcium phosphate, carrageenan, vitamin C (ascorbic acid), magnesium (magnesium oxide), vitamin B6 (pyridoxine hydrochloride), zinc (zinc sulfate), iron (ferrous lactate), vitamin B12 (cyanocobalamin).

For an 8 oz serving:
Calories: 160, Fat Cal: 27
Total Fat: 3, Sat Fat: 1
Sodium: 60 mg
Carb: 25Sugar: 21
Protein: 10

Pefectly Protein Mocha Capp

uccino:
Mocha cappuccino (low-fat milk, 100% Arabica coffee, natural flavors, vanilla extract (Madagascar), Cocoa), milk whey protein, potassium diphosphate, apple juice, pectin, carrageenan, calcium (tricalcium phosphate), vitamin C (ascorbic acid), magnesium (magnesium oxide), vitamin B6 (pyridoxine hydrochloride), zinc (zinc sulfate), iron (ferrous lactate), vitamin B12 (cyanocobalamin).

For an 8 oz serving:
Calories: 178, Fat Cal: 23
Total Fat: 2.5, Sat Fat: 1.5
Sodium: 106 mg
Carb: 29
Sugar: 28
Protein: 10

Check-in time...

Mentally: Feeling good, stable, pretty pleasant.

Physically: Lots of energy and my stomach feels much flatter today.

Menu Check-in: (please note my beautiful spice collection behind the soup ^.^)

B - Was in a hurry to get into town this morning so I had 1/2 an apple and the equivalent of two cups of coffee with coffee mate.

Snack - A serving of Bolthouse Mocha Cappuccino.

L - The last bowl of "everything so

up" enhanced with my new pepper blend. Much better. I might have a salad with turkey, cheese, and avocado. Don't feel I've had enough fat so far today.

Snack - Glass of bubbly water with Stevia. Tomato, avocado, cheese slices. A swig of the Chai Bolthouse.

D - Crock potting the london broil for dinner with leeks, carrots, and celery.

The day so far...

Thank goodness -- no headache this morning though I feel pretty low energy which is normal for me at the beginning. Had two cups of coffee instead of three and going to shoot for one cup a day from now on.

Mentally: Feeling contemplative and ambitious.

Physically: Low energy, sluggish but not uncomfortably so.

Menu Check In:

B - I went all out this morning. Four strips of bacon, two scrambled eggs in the fat, a sausage patty, and a chunk of cream cheese. Had half a cup of orange juice. Felt uncomfortably full.

Snack - Two cups of coffee with coffee mate. Drank a glass of water.

L - Had a big ass salad with lots of turkey, greens, green onions, cheese, some pomegranate seeds, and blue cheese dressing. Glass of water.

Snack - Glass of bubbly raspberry water with Stevia.

D - I'll have some of my "everything soup" tonight. Maybe some more cream cheese possibly. I actually feel pretty hungry and it's really early for me to be eating dinner. Maybe I should have a side of beef with my soup. The turkey wasn't very filling from lunch.

No pictures today because I scarfed before thinking. Ahhh well.

I AM MAKING THIS TOMORROW

I..... am speechless. I don't think I've ever been so excited about a recipe.. except maybe primal chocolate chip cookies ^.^

CHEESE CHIPS

Stay tuned for the tasty results!

Getting serious now...

So I've decided it's time to do another round of detox and recommitting to my primal goals. I've gained back a lot of the weight I lost initially since traveling over the summer. I know, it's winter so I'm less active than I was at the height of summer but still... there's wood to be chopped, lifted, hauled, animals to be fed and watered, lots of wilderness to explore.... basically, no excuses.

But the real commitment needs to lie in my eating. I have gone astray, pigging out on junk food and I've felt the brutal effects. As I explore my reasons for getting off track I think most of it points to the move from Washington to Montana. The move was stressful and we lived with Whitney's parents for the month between coming back from traveling and moving to Montana.

Whitney's Parents = CW Eating = Fat Lindsay

But that's all over now. We've been in our new place for over a month now. It's time to quit the shenanigans and get serious. I need to pick up a scale and start weighing myself more consistently to keep tr

ack of my actual progress or lack of. I have also decided to take real 'before' and 'after' photos. Tracking down the two I posted last time was really inspiring -- but I'm not at my lowest now and looking at that picture is the motivation I need. Plus I got to see some pictures taken of me over Christmas.... yeesh. Bad news all around.

How I normally go about this process:

1) Stock up on my comfort foods including lots of dairy, bacon, and baked primal goods.

2) Eat however much I want of only primal foods.

3) Pick up some flavored sparkling water to add Stevia to -- perfect for soda cravings.

4) Focus on not letting myself get hungry at all.

Letting myself eat as much as I want helps with any feelings of deprivation and the primal foods will regulate my appetite after a week or so and I won't eat nearly as much. I hope it's not as bad as the first time. I went through a major "carb flu" and it took almost two weeks to feel right again. But the eating a lot, staying full, and having the right foods on hand really helped.

I will also commit to documenting what I am eating daily -- you know, keep myself honest and all that. I will do a physical, mental, and menu check in hopefully every day.

How I'm feeling...

Mentally: Tired and frustrated. Tried to hang a heavy sliding door and failed. Repeatedly.

Physically: I have a raging headache and I'm pretty hungry from reading other's primal blogs.

Menu Check:

B - Two leftover chicken strips from last night (sooo good!) with ketchup and spicy mustard.

Snack - 1/2 apple with almond butter

L - 2 cups of coffee with coffee mate -- luckily I'm almost out of that stuff. A couple bites of leftover turkey off the bone. I also had one of those Almond Roche things from Christmas.

D - Planning on maybe soup. Having really strong cravings for meat but I need to use up the turkey stock I made... ugh.

Plus I have veggies that need to be used up. I'll follow up on what I actually end up.....

Okay, in the middle of this post I dragged myself downstairs, finished plucking the meat off the turkey carcass I had in the crock pot, threw together an "everything soup" (everything in the fridge needing to get used up) -- in this case that includes my homemade turkey stock, turkey, carrots, orange and yellow bell peppers, and broccoli. Then I made myself a big ass salad with baby green mix, cheese, turkey, 2 slices of apple, green onions, and blue cheese dressing. Yes, that is a chunk of cream cheese on the side. Yes, I eat cream cheese in chunks. No, I don't feel the need to apologize for it. If I get hungry later, I'll help myself to some soup. Man, I've still got this headache. Off to try and drink a couple glasses of water.

Before and After Pictures

Almost 245 lbs.

Okay, I've gotten inspired by the people at Mark's Daily Apple. Here's a before and after shot of me at my heaviest and lightest. I've gained some back since my lightest weight in the after picture but I'm making my way back!

At 220 lbs.

Whew! Keep on keeping on folks!

Fried Chicken Strips

I have a secret. Psst -- I love fried food! Giving up the crunchy greasy goodness hasn't always been easy. Sometimes I slip. I've learned to make do with crispy skin bits and I fry cheese on my eggs... but sometimes all I want is a good ol' fried chicken strip. With ketchup. And mustard.

Well, I felt adventurous today and I just so happened to have a package of chicke

n tenderloins in my fridge. Cue inspiration! Since I winged this recipe, I didn't mark down all the amounts I used but this is a recipe that can be easily customized to suit your specific preferences. I decided to try two types using coconut flour and almond flour.

Ingredients:

• 1-ish pound of chicken tenderloins
• 1/4 cup tapioca flour
• 1 egg
• some milk
• almond flour
• coconut flour
• lots of oil (use olive or coconut if you've got it)

Ta da! Easy enough, yes? Then you set up your stations:

1) Tapioca flour -- dredge the tenderloin (after snipping off any pesky tendon lingering) in tapioca flour until completely covered.

2) Dip the floured chicken in egg/milk scramble, covering completely.

3) Dip the eggy chicken strip into the flour of your choice: almond or coconut.

4) Place strip into pan with lots of oil. I used a cast iron pan and filled it pretty generously so the strip was about half covered with oil.

5) Flip, flip, flip. I flipped the strips every couple of minutes and at first some came out very dark because the oil was too hot. Nice and easy does it. They will brown darker than conventional flour, especially the almond flour, but it doesn't adversely affect the flavor.

6) Eat them until your tummy hurts!

• 

** Thoughts **

After testing both the almond and the coconut flour I feel the almond has a richer flavor while the coconut makes a better base if you're going to add seasonings and spices to the flour. I added nothing to either (I forgot) and liked them both plain. They are also very filling. I ate one of each then had one atop a salad -- this was pushing it. A lot. This would be a perfect food for kids (or adults) who want a fun dinner food you can dip but its versatile as is or on salad. Bagged the rest in the fridge. I'll follow up on how they turn out being reheated.

Moved to Missoula!

Well, we survived the move to the Missoula area at the beginning of this month and have happily settled in our mountain cabin on 20 acres of wooded property. Whitney (my partner in all things fun and criminal) was accepted to the University of Montana for this spring semester. She will be pursuing a B.S. in Sustainable Agriculture.

In the meantime, we now have a new opportunity to own poultry and rabbits again. Eating primal has drastically influenced how I view food and where my food comes from. Whitney and I both have made a commitment to raise as much of our own meat and food as possible (the goal is to meet 100% of our meat needs.) Not only is this as local as you can get it, we directly control and are responsible for the well-being, happiness, and health of our animals which translates into the best damn meat there is.

We made a huge step yesterday and acquired four rabbits for the start of our show, meat, and fur herd. Satin rabbits are near and dear to me not only for their luxurious fur but their gentle personalities. Ramon, Emma, Gayle, and Vanna mak

e an excellent addition to our homestead efforts. Rabbit meat is the leanest and the most protein-dense meat you can readily find but prices make it ridiculous for most people to purchase on a regular basis. But when you have your own backyard herd, you can feasibly get down to $2.20 a lb if you get efficient enough and for organic and happy animals that's a great deal!

I'll leave you with a delicious recipe for biscuits I just tried out from Food Renegade!

Grain Free Biscuits

(I had to modify the recipe because I only had baking soda and no powder.)

• 1 cup almond flour (I use Bob's Red Mill)
• 3 egg whites
  
• 1/3 cup butter
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1 T apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 tsp sea salt

In a mixer (or with a fork) combine the butter and almond flour until you have little broken up, pea-sized bits of butter distributed into the flour. Add the egg whites, salt, baking soda, and vinegar. Mix to combine. Scoop the batter into 4 even portions and place onto a greased or silicone-lined baking sheet. Bake at 350F for about 20 minutes, until slightly golden.

I scrambled the yolks with one additional egg and served the biscuits with the eggs, jack cheese, and a smidgen of sausage.

What I would do next time:

• Find baking powder -- I think I'll get more lift with baking powder
• Fry the eggs more densely, too scrambled and they fall off the biscuit
• Bake on silicone or parchment. Even greased they still stuck to the pan.

Other than that the taste and texture were divine! This recipe is definitely a keeper. Check out Food Renegade for many excellent recipes and dishes.

Long Time

It's been a long time coming but unfortunately, I don't have much to update except that I will be updating a lot more soon enough! I can't wait to have a full kitchen again so I can resume the full extent of my cooking/baking experimentations. However! That does not mean I have NOT been working on some delicious goodies. Over the past couple months I have perfected:

- Chocolate Chip Cookies PRIMAL!

- The BEST Primal Banana Bread

And other delicious goodies that I can't remember off the top of my head. Be prepared. I have a lot of pictures and information percolating on my laptop that just needs to be transferred to the blog so once that happens there will be a lot more comprehensive recipes and visual aids.

Primal on the road

As Whitney and I have been on our U.S. trip for the past two months, I think it only appropriate to comment on eating primal while traveling or on the road.

Initially, I worried it would be very difficult to maintain my diet on the road because of the press of convenience and small, more limited kitchen facilities. I've been pleased to discover that we have had excellent success with our efforts to remain 80-90% primal. Unfortunately, sometimes rural excursions have placed us in positions where we have had access to small stores or gas stations for food, so getting to 100% has been very difficult. Even so, I am as of two days ago, 12 lbs down from my wedding weight!

We eat a lot of eggs, fried up in the morning or incorporated into the delicious coconut pancakes. For snacks, we usually nosh on meat and cheese of some variety, with some various rotating selections of fruit. We made some delicious tuna salad lettuce wraps which were quite divine. I've also been experimenting with baking primal cookies and breads using almond and coconut flour. It's been an interesting and mostly delicious process. I've also started contemplating writing a "cooking" book on living grain-free as I feel very passionate about the subject and have been enjoying the cooking and baking part of this lifestyle. I also understand it can be difficult to come up with a variety of new things to try so having a cookbook with different recipes would be beneficial for people who are looking not only for primal options but who may have celiac disease or type 2 diabetes.

Enough about that! I have added a Recipes page and an About Me page but both are under construction so stay tuned for developments!

A promised recipe - N.R.G. Bars!

This is a recipe I have promised several people now. It is not of my making, the original can be found at www.marksdailyapple.com but I have tweaked it for my own purposes and preferences. That is the best part about this recipe is the flexibility. I gave them my own name as well. Because it sounds so much better than Primal Energy Bars. Boring!!

N.R.G. Bars (Naturally Really Good!)

First of all, preheat your oven to 325 degrees.

Ingredients:

1/2 cu slivered/chopped/minced almonds (your preference)

1/2 cu pecans

1/4 cu unsweetened shredded coconut (I found mine at the local co-op)

1/4 cu almond meal (also at the co-op)

1 1/2 tsp vanilla (this can be omitted if using vanilla whey protein powder, unless you really like the vanilla flavor, which I did!)

1 tsp raw honey

1/2 cu vanilla whey protein powder (original called for plain but all I had was vanilla)

2 LG eggs (original called for one but 2 really helps bind it together)

1/2 tsp sea salt

1/2 cu dried fruit of your choice (I used a chopped blend that was excellent)

1/4 cu unsweetened shredded coconut (this is for the topping if desired)

1/4 cu almond butter

1/4 cu coconut oil (at the co-op again)

Steps:

1. Toast coconut/nuts until golden brown.

2. Melt coconut oil and almond butter (30+ seconds in microwave) and stir until smooth.

3. Add vanilla, salt, and honey. Mix thoroughly.

4. Fold in nut mixture, almond meal, and whey protein powder until mixed thoroughly.

5. Add eggs and mix well.

6. Fold in dried fruit.

7. Press mixture firmly into 8 x 8 pan, any larger and the bars will be thin and crumbly.

8. Cook at 325 degrees for 10 minutes.

9. Remove from oven if ingredients appear dry and cooked. This cook time can vary depending on your oven so it might take some experimentation to find your perfect cook time here.

10. Cool 10-15 minutes, cut into bars.

OPTIONAL TWISTS: You can also add coconut to the top and broil it until golden brown or for a chocolate spin, add dark chocolate chips to the mix! Experiment to find your favorite.

I don't have pictures because THEY DON'T LAST LONG ENOUGH! Try them, you'll be impressed!

Rough Patches

No one said the Primal Diet was easy. And yet it is. What is not easy is battling stress-related comfort eating. Although the Primal Diet instructions have remained a constant reminder in my mind, I have still struggled over the past couple of months. I'm not going to spend this time justifying or waxing eternal about all the problems I've had that have gotten in the way of me following my plan. But I will acknowledge the difference.

Over the past month of eating poorly, my energy has dropped, I have put on some of those shed pounds, and am starting to have a resurgance of some of the symptoms that had initially vanished with this way of eating. This is motivation alone to get me back on the wagon. As today is my last day of employment, I am looking forward to being able to spend more time focusing on managing my stress, getting back to eating 3 square primal meals a day, and getting more exercise. The return of good weather also means I can begin to go outside and get more exercise than I have previously. Ahhhh, vitamin D!

I'll keep you posted on what develops over the next couple of weeks. Wish me luck!

Paleolithic Diet

First of all, I'd like to share an especially interesting link given to me by my friend Elizabeth -- an interesting debate on the "paleolithic diet" from the perspective of four "experts" in various anthropologist and biology fields.

GOOD -- Ask the Experts: Is the "Paleolithic Diet" Really Better?

What I took away from this is that while the opinions were differing, there seemed to be a broad general agreement that one size does not fit all and that generalizations are often not factual.

"Leonard: In the modern, industrial world, we have become ever better at creating diets that are dense in calories and don’t require a lot of energy to procure them. No one recommendation is going to fit everybody, so the challenge is to find what works for you individually, and, at the same time, what fits the broad nutritional requirements of our species."

"Leonard: Although there’s an extraordinary range of variation, based on the climate and the environment, hunter-gatherers get a fair amount of meat in their diet. We require a diet that is more energy-dense than other primates and historically, we may have reached that point by incorporating more meat. It’s reflected in evolutionary changes in our face, our teeth, and in our gastrointestinal tract. Indeed, the GI tract of modern humans looks more like a carnivore's than a large primate's. Because early humans increasingly used tools to hunt, we don't show the same kinds of dental adaptations as modern carnivores."

More deliciousness!

Mmmmm made a delicious dinner tonight!

Slow roasted pork and carrots (with a little onion soup mix thrown in,) Spicy and sweet potatoes, and some salad!

Here's the recipe for the delicious Spicy Sweet Potatoes!

3 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 inch cubes (about 6 cups)

2 tablespoons olive oil or 2 tablespoons canola oil

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1 teaspoon chili powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1. In a zip-top plastic bag, toss potatoes and oil.
2. Combine remaining ingredients; add to bag; toss to coat.
3. Transfer to a greased 11x7 inch baking dish.
4. Bake, uncovered, at 400 degrees for 40-45 minutes or until potatoes are tender, stirring every 15 minutes.

Slacking

This past month has been a whirlwind and shows no sign of abating as we get closer to wedding time and now that I am under the influence of drugs deemed necessary for my post-septum repair surgery. BUT! I wanted to update with some more pictures of delicious eating in the meantime.

I came across this delicious recipe in the Primal Eating Cookbook featured at Mark's Daily Apple and I love it because it contains a lot of my favorite ingredients.... namely?

Eggs! Bacon! Cheese! Salsa! RINSE LATHER REPEAT!

These transform to create the awesome, protein packed egg muffins. Be

st part is that they are highly customizable and I experimented a little. I made two types:

- Eggs, ham, salsa, pepperjack cheese

- Eggs, chicken, goat cheese, stirfry veggies, chives

I think upon the next round I'll ditch the veggies only because they were frozen and were a little too soggy to be palatable. The rest was delicious however and the chicken ones turned out really excellent minus the vegetables.

Here's the recipe for those who wish to duplicate my delicious success.

INGREDIENTS

▪ 6 eggs

▪ 1/4 – 1/2 cup cooked meat, cut or crumbled into small pieces

▪ 1/2 cup diced vegetables

▪ 1/4 tsp salt

▪ 1/8 tsp ground pepper

▪ 1/8 cup mayonnaise

▪ 1/8 cup water

▪ 1/4 cup shredded cheese, onions, and lightly

drained salsa to the eggs

Submitted by Amy Schoenherr OMELET MUFFINS

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350°F. Generously grease 6 muffin tins with butter or coconut oil or for easier removal line with paper baking cups. The baking cups also help the muffins hold their shape. In a bowl, beat the eggs. Add meat, vegetables, salt, ground pepper, and any other ingredients and stir to combine. Spoon or scoop into the muffin cups. Bake for 18–20 minutes until a knife inserted into the center of an muffin/omelet comes out almost clean. The omelets will continue to cook for a minute or two after removed from the oven. Remove the omelets from the muffin cups and serve, or cool completely and store for another day.

I served mine with a side of sour cream and flame-roasted salsa. YUMMY!

Promises, promises.

The Primal Blueprint has a lot of promises packed in there and while I have not read the book itself, I follow the blog and community pretty closely. This are some of the "Primal Blueprint" claims (from marksdailyapple.com):

• Learn how a high-fat diet can help you lose weight and why it is actually healthy.
• Reject gimmicks like regimented meal times, portion control, strict caloric ratios, and food point scores. Instead, eat like our ancestors and be totally satisfied at every meal.
• Discover a complete strategy of eating, exercising and living that is fun and comes naturally—even for the “unmotivated” types!
• Achieve incredible fitness breakthroughs in a fraction of the time and with a fraction of the suffering!
• Reduce your risk of developing conditions like arthritis, diabetes, heart disease and cancer.
• Stabilize blood sugar levels without medication.
• Naturally control certain commonly medicated conditions like depression, hypoglycemia, diabetes and high blood pressure.

So the question is, does it deliver on these pretty profound assertions? Remember, I said I was an evidence-based person and I don't do things if they suck and feel like shit. So we've met one of my parameters: I feel GOOD. Okay, excellent. But now we've got to move on to the evidence based portion. As a member of Group Health I have access to these nifty health charts that show the progression of weight, blood pressure, BMI, etc etc. I also have access to my labs. I will be sharing this information here in hopes that we will in fact be able to SEE the evidence (if there is any to be had) about what this diet is actually accomplishing inside my body.

Let's talk briefly about the immediate "external" benefits I've been able to see and directly experience thus far:

1. My hypoglycemia vanished. This is an issue I've been struggling with for many years, forced to eat every few hours to keep myself from experiencing severe blood sugar crashes that cause dizziness, sweating, fatigue, and that impending "oh my god, I'm going to die" feeling. It's gone. I can now eat less than 6 "meals" a day and the only sensation I have is a normal hungry feeling. No crash, no fluctuating, no "oh my god, I'm going to die" feeling.

2. My psoriasis has shown improvement. When I first started, I experienced a drastic reduction in my psoriasis flares. So much so that I first thought it was grain that WAS the cause of it. However, it did not vanish as I thought it was going to and reached a stable point. But the flare ups are all but gone and it is significantly reduced from its previous status.

3. My hair seems to have stopped falling out. This will be an observation that will have to take place over a long period of time. But it SEEMS my hair has stopped falling out and the "bald spot" I was developing in my part line seems to be filling in. Time will tell.

4. My stomach is smaller. I carry most of my weight in my upper body, including a pouch of fat across my abdomen. I had this even when I was much thinner, though its size has of course increased with the weight gain. Over the last 2 months, myself and others have noticed a decrease in the size of that stomach fat.

So those are the most direct effects I can think of so far but hey, so far so good. Check out following posts for the actual graphs from my GHC profile!

Mmmm Sausage!

Sausages are an item that while technically primal, tend to be so packed with nitrites and other nasty preservatives that I rarely eat them (though I love them so.) But when I saw these all natural roasted red pepper and spinach sausages at Costco, I couldn't resist. No nitrites, preservatives, all natural pork casing, etc etc.

Here they are featured with slabs of goat cheese and an herb salad with yogurt ranch dressing. This is one of my favorite meals at the moment and very filling!

So what am I eating???

Since I love trying new recipes, I'll be adding pictures and recipes of the things I am actually eating. When I've described the Primal Diet, people are highly skeptical that anything good other than salads and steaks could be had. I would like to demonstrate that this is not the case.

Case Study #1:

Worcestershire Hamburgers with Pepperjack

Fat Guacamole Devils

Here's the recipe for the Fat Guacamole Devils from the Primal Blueprint Cookbook (you can download it FREE at marksdailyappe.)

▪ 2 hard boiled eggs

▪ 1/2 avocado

▪ 1 teaspoon hot sauce (or more to taste)

▪ 1/2 teaspoon lime juice

▪ salt & pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS

Peel and halve the eggs and spoon their yolks into a small bowl. Mash the yolks with the avocado, hot sauce and lime juice; add salt and pepper to taste.

Refill egg white halves with yolk mixture, and enjoy!

Conclusion:

The hamburgers were delicious. I don't have an exact recipe but it's along the lines of add an egg, add worcestershire sauce, garlic, onion powder, salt and pepper. It's perfect! Topped with a slice of pepper jack cheese it's even better.

The Fat Guacamole Devils were a little plain. In my opinion, more salt is better and I didn't have lime juice on hand which would have given it more pizzazz. Next time I'll add more hot sauce too. However, they have a creaminess and unique flavor that warrant more tinkering.