The Paleo Mama

Homegrown and Handmade

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The Paleo Survival Guide: Getting Started with Paleo

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In the two years that I have been blogging about eating Paleo, the MOST asked question is, “How do I start?” It can be very overwhelming for you…I know…I have been there. Throw transitioning a family into that mix and you are so overwhelmed that you don’t even start.

You can scour the internet for hours and hours on how to start eating Paleo and you will find a lot of information. However, you won’t find it all in one spot. You will have to search:

  • “How do I transition my family?”
  • “How do I eat Paleo when I’m out of the house?”
  • “What kinds of foods should I eat when I’m sick?”
  • “What do I eat when I’m at parties?” 
  • “What do I feel my Paleo kids?” 
  • …and on…and on…and on.

You quit before you even started! Let me encourage you by suggesting this extremely beneficial book that Sylvie McCracken from The Hollywood Homestead has put together a brand new digital book, “The Paleo Survival Guide: Getting Started with Paleo“. Sylvie has not only written a book for you, no, she has written you a survival manual! This book is going to help you make the transition to eating Paleo so much easier.

Sylvie is a walking testimony of how Paleo has changed someone’s life completely. She has lost 65 lbs since she started eating Paleo and weight loss was not even her main goal.

You see, being overweight or underweight is often not the problem. It is a symptom of a problem. When you’re body finds health, it will most likely self-adjust on the weight front quite a bit. – Sylvie McCracken

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10 Reasons Why I Love this Book?

  1. 50% of the book is information that will be extremely beneficial to your success with Paleo. Actually, 100% is beneficial, but 50% is a manual. The other 50% is recipes that will help you get started.
  2. It starts at the bottom and addresses what Paleo, truly, is.
  3. It talks about how Paleo is safe for kids.
  4. It talks about how to afford eating Paleo.
  5. It talks about reluctant spouses who don’t want to eat Paleo. I had one of those! He’s a firm believer now.
  6. It talks about Paleo in times of sickness
  7. It addresses how to eat Paleo On the Go and when traveling.
  8. It addresses sleep, exercise, and managing stress.
  9. It’s loaded with 45 recipes to get you going.
  10. But you know what my favorite reason why I love this book? Because she is a mom just like me. She has 3 kids and she is making Paleo work for her family. You can see that health and happiness is evident in her family’s life because of Paleo.

Oh, the delicious recipes…did I mention the recipes?

Baby Broccoli Salad

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Bacon Guacamole 

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Sneaky Green Popsicle (aren’t they adorable?) 

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Chocolate Dipped Strawberries

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Hollywood Homestead is offering my readers a special discount of 20% off if you order it today!!! Coupon Code: PALEOMAMA !

CLICK HERE TO ORDER! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Well Fed 2 Releases TODAY! My Favorite Paleo Cookbook!

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Melissa Joulwan, Paleo blogger from The Clothes Make the Girl has CRUSHED it again with another incredible cookbook, Well Fed 2, More Paleo Recipes for People Who Love to Eat. I’m not kidding when I say her first WellFed cookbook was and is and always will be my favorite cookbook. I have sent hundreds of people to her website because I just LOVE her. I love her cooking style. I love her international recipes. I love all the spices she uses. She is incredible and we (the Paleo community) are so lucky that she is creating all these delicious Paleo recipes.

Well Fed 2 is just as good, probably even better, than the first. Wanna know what I love about it: 

  • If a book can have Feng Shui – this one has it. It’s so easy to read and it flows.
  • Each recipe has variations that she calls, “You Know How You Could Do That?” She tells you how to “Spice it Up” or how to use a different meat or vegetable in the recipe. This, in my opinion, is awesome. She takes one recipe and makes it 3, or 4, or 5!
  • On each recipe is a “Tastes Great With” and she recommends a few other recipes from the book that it might taste good with.
  • The Table of Contents is all on 2 pages! No flipping, no searching…it’s all right there in front of you. As a cook, I love this!
  • This cookbook is great if you are doing the Whole 30. Melissa doesn’t “Paleo-fy” desserts because she is more interested in helping you eat well every day. There’s a few fruit recipes that are great for a dessert, but no muffins, cookies, and cakes. My kind of gal!
  • She talks about what Paleo is, and emtional hunger vs. true hunger.

Wanna know what I love about the recipes?

  • Each recipe tells me the serving size, prep time, and cooking time. I can easily find a recipe that will fit into my schedule.
  • They have intense flavor. Melissa has a very internationally developed palate, which I, absolutely, love. You won’t find boring salt and pepper recipes in this book. You will find a diverse cuisine that will open up your taste buds and have you questioning why anyone would think Paleo is boring!
  • I love the Burgers, Balls and Bangers section. It is inspired by different sausage, meatballs, and burger cuisines from around the world. There’s like 18 recipes in this section that you can whip up in less than an hour and they are a healthy and quick protein to grab when you are hungry.
  • Did I mention that I love that she keeps it simple? She does not Paleo-fy recipes!!! This is great for someone like me who doesn’t really make much Paleo desserts or baked goods. I think that keeping it simple is the best way to eat.

Recipes that I Love:

We made the Pina Colada Chicken which was amazing. This recipe uses her homemade JERK seasoning (pg. 82), chicken, onion, peppers and coconut milk. It makes a delicious sauce that you just want to drink!

I, also, LOVE the Better Butter recipe (pg. 60)! In this recipe you are infusing butter with all kinds of spices and making Ghee out of it! Ghee is clarified butter that has all the milk proteins removed. It is, also, Whole 30 approved and many who can’t have dairy, can, safely eat Ghee. Melissa let me share this recipe with you!

If you would like to order this amazing cookbook that JUST released today, you can get it on Amazon for 33% off today!!! 

>>>Click here to grab Well Fed 2 now! <<<

Better Butter (pg. 60) 

Photo Credit: David Humphreys
Photo Credit: David Humphreys

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 pound organic, pastured butter
  • 1/4 small onion, coarsely chopped
  • 6 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
  • 3-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and smashed 2 whole cloves
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • 1 or 2 small dried chiles
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom pinch ground nutmeg

Directions:

  1. Place the butter in a saucepan over medium-high heat and bring to a bubble. When the surface of the butter is foamy, add all the other ingredients. Reduce heat and simmer uncovered on very low heat until the surface is transparent and the solids are on the bottom, about 45-60 minutes.
  2. Place 4 layers of cheese cloth over the mouth of a jar and carefully strain the butter through the cloth. Discard the spices and milk solids. You can store your Better Butter at room temperature for 2-3 months (but I betcha it won’t last that long).

NOTE: Plain clarified butter, known as ghee, is another must-have kitchen staple. To make plain ghee, just melt the butter as directed above, simmer for 10-15 minutes, then strain to remove milk solids. OMGhee!

How I made it: I took the butter and put it in my silicone pan (can order one here) to make little individual servings of Ghee. This way I can just grab one to sauté my eggs in or to throw on my sweet potato or steak.

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If you would like to order this amazing cookbook that JUST released today, you can get it on Amazon for 33% off today!!! 

>>>Click here to grab Well Fed 2 now! <<<

 

Want to read more Book Love posts? Click here for all my favorite books I’ve been reading!

The Paleo Slow Cooker and Preview Recipe

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As a homesteader and mother by day and a blogger by night, I have a hard time keeping up with everything. GASP! Oh yes, my life can be in shambles at times. However, for two years I have managed to cook 98% Paleo meals at home. I believe in the 80/20 rule and most the 20% non-Paleo foods we consume is when we eat out. Despite my inaquacies and my lack of time, I feel it is important to give my family the healthiest food possible. This is the job I took on when I held my first child to my breast and promised to nourish her and grow her with proper nutrition. From that day, it has been my desire to give my kids the best I can. And sometimes I fail. But, thank God for grace. It covers me when my shortcomings get the best of me. All this to say – – this would not have been possible without my slow cooker.

Oh yes, you heard me right, my beautiful, incredibly talented slow cooker. It puts out delicious meals while I clean up chicken poop from my daughter’s hair and try to fold my endless pile of laundry. It works it’s magic while I sit here on the computer typing about my love for it…oh yes, it’s working it’s magic right now. The best part about my slow cooker is that it takes me 5-10 minutes max to throw together a healthy, Paleo meal for my family. Seriously, I’m not sure if I would be Paleo without it!

Now to find good Paleo slow cooker meals…well, that’s been another challenge. In walks my favorite slow cooker cookbook ever – the Paleo Slow Cooker: Healthy Gluten-Free Meals the Easy Way. This deliciously made book was created by Arsy Vartanian of Rubies & Radishes, a top Paleo blogger in my book! There’s lots of great Paleo bloggers that I absolutely adore, and Arsy tops the list…along with Melissa Joulwan of The Clothes Make the Girl (who has a new cookbook coming out real soon!). These girls put out incredibly tasteful recipes. It’s not your same old boring salt and pepper ingredients. Oh no, it’s ingredients with an ethnic flare that open up your tastebuds and make you think, “Oh wow, this is what I have been missing.”

The Paleo Slow Cooker is loaded with recipes that do this to you. Not only are these recipes easy and simple to throw into a slow cooker, but there 125 recipes from appetizers to desserts that only require the ease of a slow cooker. My personal favorite, so far, is the Apple Cider Pork with Rosemary. Arsy gave me permission to share this delicious recipe with you. Isn’t she the best?!

Apple Cider Pork with Rosemary – The Paleo Slow Cooker

Ingredients:

  • 3lbs of pork roast
  • 2 tbsp coconut oil
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic, crushed
  • 2 apples, peeled, cored, and chopped
  • 2 cups of hard apple cider 
  • 1 tbsp fresh rosemary
  • 1 tsp minced fresh thyme
  • salt and pepper just before serving

Cooking Instructions:

  1. Brown the pork in 1 tablespoon of coconut oil in a heavy-bottomed pan over medium-high heat for about 8 minutes. Transfer to the slow cooker.
  2. Turn the heat down to medium and saute the onion in the remaining coconut oil for about 5 minutes.
  3. Add the garlic and apples, cook for another 3 minutes, and then transfer the mixture to the slow cooker.
  4. Add all the other ingredients and cook on low for 6-8 hours.
  5. Salt and pepper to taste, then serve.

Servings: 6

If you would like to purchase this book, you can find it on Amazon for only $19.29 (it’s nearly 30% off!)! This is a steal for a hardback cookbook! You can, also, buy it on Kindle for $9.49!

Buy The Paleo Slow Cooker Hardcopy – click here

Buy The Paleo Slow Cooker on Kindle – click here

Please go visit Arsy on her blog, Rubies & Radishes to find more delicious recipes that she is creating!

Want to read more Book Love posts? Click here for all my favorite books I’ve been reading!

Kick the Weight With Keto – How to Lose Weight & Feel Great on a Paleo Ketogenic Diet

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Hey everyone! I wanted to share with you this great book I’m reading called, “Kick the Weight with Keto – How to Lose Weight and Feel Great on a Paleo Ketogenic Diet.” It’s a book by a woman, Kim Knoch, who was eating everything right on Paleo alone but still wasn’t losing weight. After discovering that it wasn’t because of a lack of willpower, laziness, or anything else, she prescribed herself a low-carb ketogenic diet. Kim began treating her disability to lose weight by using a ketogenic diet cure.

Kim has dropped from 260lbs to 220lbs!!! She describes this way of eating as a “lifestyle”…kind of how Paleo is to me! I love that she is open about her continual transformation saying, “I didn’t want to wait until I’m “perfect” to share this method, since I am for the time in my life having success!” Before Keto, Kim had come to grips with the fact that she was meant to be obese…but not anymore!

What is a Ketogenic Diet? 

Kick the Weight with Keto uses “nutritional ketosis” to tell your brain to use ketones for fuel instead of glucose. Ketones break down fatty acids, either from fat in your diet, or from your own body fat stores. When you lower your carbohydrate intake enough your body starts breaking down fat for fuel! Which, obviously, is a great thing! When you are eating loads of carbs, your body uses glucose to burn fuel and doesn’t tap into fat stores causing weight loss. Kicking yourself into ketosis requires diligence and a deep desire to see your health (and weight) improve.

Is Kick the Weight with Keto for me? 

Do you want to lose weight? Has your weight loss stalled with eating Paleo or Primal alone? Do you suffer from metabolic issues (thyroid, adrenal fatigue, PCOS) or blood sugar issues? Are you a healthy weight but would like more mental clarity? Then Kick the Weight with Keto is for you!

**Nutritional ketosis has worked for so many different types of people. If you are pregnant/breastfeeding or have type 1 diabetes, then you should avoid a Ketogenic diet.

What’s the Diet Like?

The Keto diet is somewhat similar to eating Paleo or Primal(with the inclusion of high quality dairy) and uses a high fat, moderate protein, and low carb guideline. Kim gives you a suggestions of what to eat and what to avoid to help kick your body into nutritional ketosis. In the book you will find 2 weeks of suggested meal plans and LOTS of recipes. In fact, half the book is recipes!!!

After reading Kim’s book and educating myself more on nutritional ketosis, I am going to be adding it into my nutritional regime. I have, personally, lost over 60lbs eating Paleo, but my weightloss has stalled. I’ve been ok with that because I am comfortable with myself, however, I, clearly, have around 15-20 more lbs to lose. I’m pretty sure Kick the Weight with Keto will do the trick! Won’t you join with me?

Click here to learn more and get Kick the Weight with Keto!

 

Here’s a few awesome recipes and a peak inside the book: 

Keto Meatloaf

Ingredients:

  • 1lb of ground beef
  • 1/2 cup of tomato paste or low sugar ketchup
  • 1 TB onion flakes
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon of salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon of pepper
  • 1 teaspoon worcestershire sauce
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/2 cup almond flour
  • 1/2 cup crushed up pork rinds

Directions:

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Mix all the ingredients in a large bowl with hands or in a food processor.
  3. Form into a loaf shape and put in a baking pan.
  4. Bake for 45-60 minutes.

A few other great recipes from her book that I love:

Crispy Cauliflower Crust Pizza

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Stuffed Chicken Breasts

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Low Carb Sub Sandwich “Unwich”

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Green Beans with Bacon and Onions

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Click here to learn more and get Kick the Weight with Keto!

Want to read more Book Love posts? Click here for all my favorite books I’ve been reading!

Beyond Bacon Cookbook Releases TODAY

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I have been waiting for MONTHS for this cookbook by Stacy Toth and Matthew McCarry to publish…literally salivating over it for months. Beyond Bacon is a cookbook that utilizes every part of the very tasty and frugal animal, the hog.

The hog has gotten a bad rap over the past few decades, however, Americans are beginning to believe, again, that saturated fat, pork, and lard are not what’s bad for your health. We can thank the Paleo movement and well-known and influential doctors for debunking this false belief and bringing back the bacon! And as Stacy would say, “Praise the Lard” for that!

My husband and I prefer to buy our meat in bulk from a local farmer. So, what excited me the most about Beyond Bacon was that it is a cookbook devoted to recipes using all parts of the hog. Our ancestors never wasted any part of an animal, but in today’s society we have become picky with our “skinless boneless” faux-meat. We aren’t truly nourishing our body’s the way we used to. This cookbook teaches you to render your own lard, how to make pork stock, and recipes from Lengua Carnitas and Head Cheese to chewing on Curried Cracklin’s or whipping up a batch of Savory Bacon Jam. All of them are beautiful and deeply nourishing.

Beyond Bacon is a beautiful cookbook from the HARD cover right down to the rustic and gorgeous pictures that make you wish you live on a farm. You, literally, want to make that recipe you are looking at ASAP! Stacy and Matt make each recipe very personal, giving you glimpses into their personal lives with stories of how the recipes came about:

“Growing up, Stacy often helped her mother prepare dinner. She’d sit at the kitchen table snapping green beans as her mom told stories about her own mother’s southern cooking…” (Beyond Bacon, pg. 216)

Food has always been celebrated and Beyond Bacon gives you a reason to grab your kids, relive childhood memories, and make new ones.

This is exactly what I did! The kids and I made Yellow Lard Cake (pg. 286). As with every recipe in the book, I found it very simple to read the directions. I love that on each recipe there is a column on the left that tells you the difficulty, gives you the yield, reminds you to turn your oven on, and then lists the ingredients. I’ve always found it confusing when cookbooks combine all this info on one paragraph. The recipe of Yellow Lard Cake was just as simple to follow. We made one substitution. We substituted bacon fat for the lard…which is essentially the same thing, however bacon fat has a slight taste of bacon. I always have a beautiful jar of bacon fat in the fridge!

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We added a whipped avocado frosting to top it off, then devoured the delicious cupcakes, one-by-one, till they were gone. Both my kids preferred the cupcake more than the frosting and ended up removing the frosting before eating the cupcake! Since we used bacon fat instead of lard, I thought they would taste like bacon, but there was no bacon-y taste after they were cooked.

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All-in-all, I am very happy with this cookbook. I have made a few more recipes from it (just devoured them before taking a picture to share) like the Bacon Wrapped Dates (pg. 278), Shaken & Baked Pork Chops (pg. 160), and the Sautéed Cabbage (pg. 228). None have disappointed…in fact all had me licking my fingers wishing for more.

Stacy and Matt have kindly shared a few recipes on their blog:

These are just a glimpse of what is inside this cookbook. You need more…you need this cookbook. It’s filled with 116 recipes that are solely devoted to utilizing every part of the most frugal and budget friendly animal…the hog.

Beyond Bacon releases today! Order it now!!!

Review: Rich Food Poor Food

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I just finished reading Rich Food Poor Food, The Ultimate Grocery Purchasing Sysytem (GPS) and I, absolutely, loved this book. I kept thinking how overdo a book like this is for the real food junkies. We all have seen these “Eat This Not That” books all over the market and all they do is advocate eating GMO, processed junk food while leaving out important information.
However, the authors, Jason & Mira Calton, have put together a very practical book, leaving nothing uncovered!  The first 40 pages talk about all the harmful ingredients that are allowed by the FDA to put into our food. I was amazed how many things are actually banned in other countries, yet they are allowed in our food here in the US. The one that scared me the most was Azodicarbonamide. This bad boy is banned in Australia, the UK, and most European countries. In Singapore, you can get up to 15 years in prison if you use it as an ingredient. But, here in the USA, this chemical is put into BLEACHED FLOUR!!! WTF?!?! While other countries have to wait a whole week for flour to naturally whiten, the USA just puts Azodicarbonamide in the flour. You can find this ingredient roaming around in Stroehmann’s Breads, Betty Crocker Suddenly Salads, Country Hearth Breads, Hungry Man Dinners, and Entenmann’s Baked Goods. 

Is this book Paleo or Primal? Actually, Rich Food Poor Food suggest you eating a Primal/Paleo diet but then goes on to recommend the best whole grains, rice, legumes, and beans available. I actually kind of liked that they did this because so many people who switch to Paleo do better off easily transitioning into it.  Jumping into being completely Paleo is VERY difficult, and even more difficult with families. And, also, so many Paleo families, like mine, are not even 100% Paleo. So, for me, I liked seeing the healthiest rice options, and the healthiest wheat options because we do enjoy rice on occasion. Rich Food Poor Food taught me that brown rice isn’t always better than white…and when at a restaurant, it’s best to pick the white rice. Why? Well, you will just have to get the book and find out. 🙂

Rich Food Poor Food dummies down the supermarket for you. Gosh, I remember the first time I shopped Paleo at the supermarket. I must have looked like a lost duck. This book would have saved me a ton of time…time spent reading ingredients, googling ingredients, and getting frustrated at all the ingredients on a package. This book tells you flat out which hot dogs, fish, condiments, dressings, spices, nuts, drinks, meats, eggs, and dairy products to buy (and so much more). Over 350 individual brand products are included in this book. This is the “Eat This Not That” book for the Paleo, Primal, or Real Foodie!!!

photo credit: Mark's Daily Apple
photo credit: Mark’s Daily Apple

The Grocery Purchasing System (GPS) guide is great because it recommends brands that are clean, organic, and manufactured with the healthiest standards. It teaches you how to avoid misleading packaging by suggesting the top quality brands with the top quality ingredients

If you have been eating Paleo/Primal/Real Food for years and years, you will still learn a lot of useful information from this book. I learned that Gouda cheese has the third-highest source of elusive vitamin K2, supplying nearly 100% of your daily requirement in a mere 3.5-ounce serving. Only natto, a Japanese fermented soybean dish, and goose liver pate’ surpass it! So, I learned to reach for the Gouda if we are going to indulge in cheese!

In conclusion, Rich Food Poor Food by the Calton’s is a gem to ANYONE! It’s more than just a book, it’s a guide that you will want to keep around for a long time. There will be many times when you will need to pull out this guide to see if something is questionable or not. It’s nice to have a real food guide that I can trust, a guide that takes my concerns into question, and a guide that knows the best foods I can give to my family.

Thank you Jayson and Mira Calton for writing such an informative book!

Buy this book today!!!