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!