Monday, March 2, 2015

A Paleo Cooking Show?! It Could Be With Our Help!

It's no secret that I am a major fangirl when it comes to Dr. Sarah Ballantyne, The Paleo Mom.

When we first went Paleo, I found the podcast she co-hosts with Stacy Toth of The Paleo Parents.
I spent hours absorbing the information they shared over 100 plus episodes.  I learned so much from the show.  I specifically love the "Why's" behind the lifestyle in a segment they call "Science With Sarah."



I don't think it would be totally off-base to say that The Paleo View (listen here) has changed my life. Sarah and Stacy are relateable, likable, knowledgeable.  They are real life moms who have lost over 100 pounds, are managing diseases, and still manage to parent while producing amazing content week after week.

On recent episodes of The Paleo View Sarah has been dropping hints about a television show she's involved with, and finally made the announcement today.  Sarah has teamed up with the crew from ECG Productions (the producers of "In Search Of The Perfect Human Diet) and filmed a pilot called
"Paleo Bites."

"Paleo Bites" isn't just a cooking show

 It will also feature segments called Lifestyle Bites, offering tips on things like stress management, sleep and exercise, and Science Bites, which is where Sarah really shines.  She has this incredible ability to explain complex ideas and processes to those of us who are, um, not so great at science.  In my (totally expert) opinion, there is no one else who could host this show, and do it with such humor and flair and general awesomeness as Sarah.

I really, really, really want this show to air!  Not just for my own selfish reasons and fangirldom, but for the millions of Americans who need this information.  Who can heal, feel better, look better if they only had this information.

So what can we do to help?

1.  Visit this post on The Paleo Mom.

2.  Watch the trailer and read more about the show

3.  Fill out the form to send to T.V. Stations (This can be done once a day!)

      **As an added bonus, you'll receive a free .pdf with recipes, and be entered to win a viewing of             the pilot episode.  Hopefully I'll win a spot, too and we can meet up!**

4.  Use #PaleoBitesTV and post on social media.  Share with your family, friends, followers, anyone who can use this information 


There are maybe four people in entire world who I am such a big fan of that I would consider writing an entire blog post about, but I am not exaggerating when I say that her podcast changed my life.  That's a lofty statement, believe me I know, but it's true.  I want others to have the chance to feel as good as I feel.  And Paleo Bites TV is a step in the right direction, a step towards educating the public and letting them experience real health.


Tuesday, February 17, 2015

Paleo Kids: Snacks

People are always shocked at the things our kids eat and enjoy.  Heck, I'm shocked at the things our kids eat and enjoy most times. 

I'm really lucky that they are brave and love to try new things.  When we made the switch to paleo, they were already eating well and there weren't too many things that needed to change, but there were a few things that we added and tweaked.  

Bree just turned 3, Nathan is 18 months, and both are grazers who prefer to snack a lot as opposed to eating big meals.  Snacking, and doing so healthfully, is so important.

Here are some of their favorite snacks:

Olives  She likes black, he prefers green.

Avocados

Sardines Straight from the tin!  Shout out to Diane at Balanced Bites for that one!

Almond butter thinned with almond milk for dipping apples, cucumbers, carrots
               
Fruits like apples, bananas, oranges, persimmons

Berries  This gets it's own category since it's like 1/3 of our grocery budget.  They love berries!  Raspberries, blackberries, strawberries, blueberries.  

Baby spinach  (Raw) 

Cherry tomatoes (Quartered, choking hazard)

Kale chips  Bree makes these for us, and I just pop them in the oven to bake!  They're a huge hit around here.

Coconut Milk Yogurt  This falls in the special treat category, but it's so good.

Almond Nut Thin Crackers  Also a special treat, and the replacement for goldfish.

Bolthouse Farms Fruit Tubes Perfect replacement for Go-Gurts!

GoGo Squeeze Apple Sauces 

Larabars 

Plantain Chips

Applegate Farms Salami, Ham, Pepperoni

Sea Snax Seaweed  This is their favorite snack.  I can literally bribe them to do anything with these.  They're seriously delicious.  













Sunday, February 15, 2015

Lazy Sunday...er, Snow Day


Sunday's are usually action packed for the kids and me.  We go to the gym, go food shopping, and have fun "adventures" while we're shopping. 

Today we were adding in a trip to the outlets so I could get new sneakers. 

Twice now I have driven to the gym, looked down as we were getting out of the car and realized I had on my uggs. My super smart husband said, "Hey, why don't you buy a pair and leave them in the car?"  To which I replied, "By golly, that's a super swell idea!"  or something equally as dumb because my brain was short circuiting at the idea that was so simple but would solve my issue, that I couldn't think.  He's obviously the brains of this operation. 

Imagine my surprise when I woke up and found four inches of snow that I wasn't even aware we were going to receive. Instead, I stayed home and played with the kids all day.  We stayed in our PJs, watched movies and had a blast.  

Aside from unwrapping some Applegate Farms ham and slapping it on a plate with some raw veggies and berries and calling I lunch, I did nothing after 10am.  I even forgot about dinner. 
Never occurred to me to take anything out.  

Luckily, this family is easy.  They know I'm lazy, but they still love me.  It's probably because I'm pretty awesome at making silly faces and reading stories. 






Saturday, February 14, 2015

I choo-choo-choose you!

It's funny the weird pop culture references that stick with you.  I'm pretty sure my breakdown is like 96% cartoons from the 90's, 3% songs from the early 2000's and 1% comedy bits that no one else remembers.  

Moving on, far away from the weirdness of my brain...

Happy Valentine's Day, y'all!  

We had a lazy, fun day.  We made breakfast, hung out with my parents, came home and made taco salad for dinner.  It was a perfectly lovely day with my loves.  

Bree was so excited to eat candy, that she actually turned down seaweed snax. 
I asked, "Wait, Bree.  What's your favorite food?"

"Seaweed!  But NOT on Valentine's Day!"

Righto, kiddo.  Trust me, I'd down candy all day long if it was healthy.  We'll see tomorrow how this all works out for me.  The last time she had this much sugar she told me "These cupcakes make me want to be bad!"  She obviously has some ability to recognize how things make her feel, but she's 3.  She's a baby!

Since I knew they'd get tons of candy, I made them some special treats.  


...Which I'm totally sure they'd appreciate way more if they could, you know, read.

Try as I might, I lack the Pinterest gene. I saw this adorable idea to put temporary tattoos on bananas.  It sounded easy, but I'm really awesome at messing things up. It's a skill, really.  




Tuesday, February 10, 2015

Sausage, Beef & Peppers, Oh My!

Did you ever make something, and before it was even done, just know that it was going to be one of the best things you've ever eaten?  I did.  It was the easiest, most simple recipe, too.

For your dining pleasure, I present to you:




                                                            Stuffed Peppers.

It's a classic.  Were you expecting something more?  Do you not know me by now?  Lazy.  With a capital "L" and not just because it's the first letter of a sentence.  I'm not about fancy, time consuming or hard recipes.  I like simple.  I love lazy.

Why is this recipe special?

1.  It combines ground beef and ground sausage for a little something extra.
2.  It's totally paleo.  White rice is one of those things that's questionable, some people react to it      
     while others are totally fine.  Since we're still relative newbies, I'm still avoiding rice until our guts
     are nice and healthy.  It uses cauliflower "rice" instead.


The Ingredients  (Makes 8 servings)

8 Bell Peppers
1 lb Ground Beef
1 lb. Ground Sausage
1/2 Head Cauliflower "Rice"  (Put cauliflower through food processor until it resembles rice)
2 Small Cans Tomato Paste
1 Small Yellow Onion, diced
1 Small Can Diced Chilies
1 tbs Oregano

The Steps

Preheat Oven to 350 degrees

1.  Cook the ground beef and sausage on the stove top
2.  Cut the tops off the peppers, and discard along with the seeds
3.  Once the beef/sausage mixture is cooked through, combine all the ingredients and mix well
4.  Fill the peppers with the mixture, and cook for approximately 30 minutes until peppers are tender

See?  Easy!







Friday, February 6, 2015

The Lazy Way aka Slow Cooking

I'm all about the slow cooker.  Shocking, right?  It's the easiest, most lazy way of making dinner ever.

My awesome husband got me a new Crock Pot for Christmas, and I love it so hard.  (I also love that the old one can constantly be making nutrient dense bone broth!)

Rubies and Radishes has an amazing e-book called "Easy Paleo Slow Cooker Meals - Over 25 quick prep, nutrient dense, grain-free recipes" that I downloaded with The Family Resolution Revolution bundle that was offered by my favorite podcasters, Stacy from The Paleo View Podcast and one of the Paleo Parents.  (Word on the street is that another bundle will be offered this summer!)

The very first recipe in the book is for chicken with sun-dried tomatoes and artichoke hearts.  My husband loves artichokes like I love sugar, so I knew I had to make it for him.  He will eat anything I make, and pretends to like most of it.  I knew we had a winner on our hands when we had this exchange:


The recipe is incredibly easy, and takes less than five minutes to prep.  Normally when recipes make those claims I double the time, but this one is seriously that easy.  

I'm not 100% sure, but it looks like you can receive the whole e-book for free when you sign up for the email list at Rubies and Radishes!  (You for sure receive a free book, I'm just not sure if you'll get this exact one, but either way it's a total win!)

Ready for the easy recipe?

Chicken

Jar of artichoke hearts

Jar of sun-dried tomatoes (packed in olive oil)

Small can of tomato paste

Combine, and cook for 4-5 hours on low.


Then sit back, enjoy the amazing smell, and wait forever.  Wait some more.  And eventually it will be time to eat.

So yummy! I served it over a bed of spinach, and pretty much devoured it.  Yeah.  It was so good I basically just shoveled it into my mouth.