Meal Plan -- New Years!

I hope everyone's had a wonderful holiday season so far.  It's back to the grind this week.  We're done stuffing ourselves full of stuff we normally wouldn't eat.  We're back to trying our very best to keep our weekly food budget under $120, or even under $100...all while being grain free.

Here is our plan for the week:

Monday: Baked chicken with Roasted Winter Vegetables

Tuesday: Roasted Cauliflower Soup with buttered biscuits

Wednesday: Paleo Turkey Hash

Thursday: Deer Chili (with leftover biscuits!)

Friday: Butterflied leg of lamb with leftover winter vegetables

Saturday: Cubed Steak with Caper Sauce and buttered cauliflower

Sunday: Leftovers/Breakfast


I'm adding a shopping list, which strangely doesn't coordinate with this list of recipes for the week.  Most of the meals we picked this week are of meats and things already in our fridge.  I will post the amount of money spent this week on food, and any extra money will go to buy meats on sale which I will also list.

Shopping List:
Eggs
Capers
Milk
Romain Lettuce
Cauliflower
tomato paste
parsnips
bacon
American Cheese
Hot dogs

For more menu plans, go here!

Menu Plan

Last week we forgot to list our menu plan, but we had one.  We went over budget too.  Man we suck at this.  We've extended our budget this week to $120 bucks.

The financial hits don't stop coming, seriously.  We had our oil topped off in our house this week.  That was $500!!  I had to get new glasses, that was $400 bucks!  Hubs car is now making noise, that will be who in GODS name knows how much but we just don't have it.  *sigh*

The kids are at grandma's until Tuesday, so the major meals we'll begin on Tuesday.  Also, chicken is on sale this week at the store, it's not organic, but this week...it will have to do.

Here's our dinner list:


Monday: Solo dinner for me, Rack of lamb (I know it sounds glamorous but seriously it's less than 1/4 a pound of meat.  It's been sitting in our fridge for a few months,  a freebie from our meat CSA we had over the summer.)

Tuesday: Chicken Pot Pie

Wednesday: Chicken Fajita Burritos

Thursday: Deer Stew

Friday: Italian Sausage and Spaghetti Squash

Saturday: Party at friend's house, yay!!

Sunday: Roast Chicken and Veggies


Recipes of note:  I found a Venison Bulgogi recipe that looks amazing, and I'd like to tweak it to make it primal. I haven't had Bulgogi in YEARS, but I love it. Traditionally it's served on lettuce, so I can swap out the buns...but I need to think on the rice and soy, see if I can sub something else.

Rockfish is Sexy

Our neighbor is a fisher, hunter type, and a generous one too (Hi Dan!!). Last week he came over with about 5 pounds of rockfish he had caught over the weekend. We were so obliged to take it (thank you thank you thank you!!!). Rockfish is Maryland speak for striped sea bass, or sexy deliciousness.

I found a great recipe, and simplified it because I really can't cook (I just pretend). This was the most delicious "stuff your face" rendition of rockfish I've had in a long time. You can impress your friends and make them think you're a fabulous cook, because this is amazing.

Start off with about one and half to two pounds of fish.   I put mine in an 8x8 cooking dish, but the dish doesn't matter so long as the fish fits.

Here's the list of ingredients you'll need:

• 1/4 cup of butter, melted
• 2 tbs lemon juice
• 1/4 tsp dried parsley, a fist full of fresh parsley, chopped well.
• Generous sprinkling of almond flour (about 1/4 cup)
• salt and pepper to taste
• and a dash of old bay because this is Maryland, and it's just wrong not to.

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
2. Melt the butter and mix in the lemon juice.  Pour the mixture on your fish.
3. Sprinkle a generous amount of almond flour on top of your fish.  This turns into a yummy crust.  
4. Add your salt and pepper on top of the fish, along with your old bay.  I went light on the old bay, seemed to be just enough.
5. Sprinkle your parsley on top, and stick it in the oven for about 20 minutes uncovered.  Your fish is done when you can pull it apart with a fork, so if it doesn't flake easily, give it a few more minutes

This fellah took me 30 minutes of cooking to get this lovely flaking.  The thicker your fish, the longer it takes.  We served ours up with a huge salad with some lemon garlic salad dressing just so we didn't mess with the awesome flavors too much.  I probably would have fried up some spinach if I wasn't the only one in the house that likes it.   The fish however was a hit with everyone.

Menu Plan Monday

We've run smack into the wall when it comes to money and our budget.  We are looking everywhere to tighten our belt loops so we don't drown.  One way of doing this is organizing all of our spending including food.

Things we're not willing to compromise on right now is eating organically and primally.  We've set a budget of $100 each week for a primal family of four.  We're doing this by stocking up on things that are on sale, using what we have and ignoring last minute cravings for specific food, and sticking to the plan.

This week, we spent about 60 bucks to fill in the spaces for what we didn't already have.  It's easy to do though the week after thanksgiving.  Our lunches will be leftover turkey, and a turkey stew I made on Sunday.  Dinners will be the variety listed below. :)


Monday: Turkey Stew, left over Turkey
Tuesday: Taco Salad
Wednesday: Morrocan Lamb Meatballs
Thursday: Breakfast
Friday: Bratwurst and cooked carrots
Saturday: Butterly Lamb
Sunday: Leftovers

All meals will have a salad.  Here's my favorite link of home made dressing!

Some of this weeks snacks will include:
Primal Almond Butter Pumpkin Brownies
Banana Bread

To see more fabulous menu plans, check out Organizing Junkie

Primal Cranberry Sauce

I love cranberry sauce.  I think I'm the only person I know who really loves it.  I hate the jelly in the can, and lots of the relishes and other sauces at the store contain HFC and other stuff I try to avoid.  Luckily, it's really simple to make it yourself, and you can preserve it too so you can make it way ahead of time, or make lots and save some for Christmas.  This recipe has been modified from one of my favorite books, Preserving Summer's Bounty.

Here's what you'll need:

• 5 cups of cranberries
• 1/3 cup cranberry juice (apple juice works, too)
• 1/2 cup maple syrup
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon

First, add your cranberries and juice into a stainless steel pan.  Over a medium low heat, simmer the berries and the juice until the berries get soft.


Next puree the mixture until it reaches a texture you like.  Dump it all back into your pot, and add the rest of your ingredients.  Let the mixture simmer for 5-10 minutes, or until it thickens.  This batch only took about 5 minutes.

If you plan on canning them.  Ladle them into 1/2 pint jars, process them in a water bath for 10 minutes or more depending on your altitude.  If you don't can, this should freeze well in proper containers for around 6 months.  Canned they can last up to two years.

This recipe will make 3 1/2 pint jars.  I find these jars perfect for a single feast.  They also make great gifts if you happen to find someone who loves cranberry sauce as much as you do!!

Enjoy!

Primal Rib Sexiness with Coleslaw

My husband knows I love him.  There are a few key words that just make him swoon like steak, and ribs being two.  Ribs...pork ribs....

I found this recipe from Paleo Spirit, their dry rubbed barbecue pork ribs.  It tortured me all day in the oven, smelling up my house with yummy deliciousness.  The barbecue sauce for this recipe was so simple, and so good if it were my recipe I'd consider bottling it up and selling it.  Really I had no idea that when you make your own barbecue sauce it just tastes better than anything in a bottle.

I did however come up with the coleslaw that we had with it.  It was also primal, and so very simple.

First, get a bag of already pre-chopped coleslaw mix.  Toss out the dressing they put in it, because it's likely soybean oil, and high fructose corn syrup.

In a measuring cup put in the follow:

• 1/4 cup of apple cider vinegar
• 1/4 cup of milk
• 3 tbsp. of mayo (home made if you have it)
• 1 tbsp. of honey
• sprinkle of paprika
• sprinkle of celery seed
• salt and pepper to taste

Stir all that in your measuring cup, then pour it over your already cut cabbage and enjoy.  I think the only bad side about last nights dinner....was that one rack of ribs just wasn't enough.  We wanted more.

Have a great weekend!

Primal Chocolate Ice-Pops

My daughter has been pestering me for chocolate ice pops, and I couldn't find any recipe that looked good to me.  I have issues with using raw eggs to get a creamy smooth texture, especially since bananas do it so well, and sweeten things a bit, too.  So I threw this together, and it was super good, and even the kids in the neighborhood liked it.  If you're not doing milk, a can of high fat coconut milk would be a good substitute for all the milk and cream.

Directions:

• 3/4 cup of milk 
• 1/2 whole cream
• 3 tbsp Cocoa Powder
• 1 banana
• 2 tbsp honey
• a dash of cinnamon
• a sprinkle of salt

1. Put everything in a blender, and mix it well.
2. Freeze for at least two hours.
3. Enjoy!!

Primal Morrocan Lamb Meatballs

I recently signed my family up for a meat CSA at this awesome farm out here in Maryland.  We're getting fresh good, grass fed beef and lamb.  We're also getting free range chicken from them.  It's all so good.  As with vegetable CSA's though it makes us break out of our shells when it comes to what we eat.  Ground lamb was the focus of this experiment, we hadn't had ground lamb very often before so we weren't really sure what to do with it.

I found this recipe on Lava Lamb's website and tweaked it just a bit, only because I didn't have everything I needed to make it just like they did. It was amazing, so I'm sharing my version of it here.  It was a hit.   Even the kids asked for seconds.

Here's the recipe:


Meatballs:

• 2lbs of ground lamb
• 2 tsp. paprika
• 1 tsp. cumin
• 1/2 tsp. powdered coriander seed
• 1/2 tsp. chili powder
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. black pepper

Sauce:

• a little olive oil
• 1 medium onion diced
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1/2 tsp. powdered coriander seed
• 2 tsp. paprika
• 1 tsp. oregano
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. black pepper
• 2 diced tomatoes (I used two romas from the garden)
• 1 6 oz. can of tomato paste
• 1 1/2 cup water

How to mix it all up:

1. Combine the spices in a bow, then throw in the ground lamb and mix it all up.  Then roll the meat into small meatballs and lay them on a plate while you make the sauce.
2. In a large sauce pan, drizzle enough oil to cover the chopped onion and sauté until it gets tender.  Then add the garlic and sauté for a few more minutes.
3. Add the spices for the sauce and stir briefly, then pour in the water and the tomatoes.  Once it's well mixed in the pan, add the tomato paste and stir.
4. Once the sauce begins to bubble, place all the meat balls in the sauce.  Cover and simmer for 45 minutes.
5. Enjoy with your favorite side. We chose steamed cauliflower.

Primal Strawberry Jam

A few months ago for my I made some honey biscuits as a special birthday treat.  When Danielle, the author of Against all Grain pictured with a side of jam, I knew I had the perfect compliment sitting in my fridge.

I've been making and canning my own jams for a few years, and initially I canned with traditional sugar methods.  However after committing to a primal lifestyle, I've swapped the sugar for honey.  This is still a temporary treat, and I'm currently working on a low sugar recipe.  Once that is perfected, I will be posting that as well.  You won't miss any sweetness with this recipe, and it spreads so wonderfully.

Ingredients:

4 cups of organic strawberries (or pick your favorite berry, any will do!)
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 package of powdered pectin (I use Pomona)
1 cup of honey

Put the berries and lemon juice COLD in a saucepan.  While still cold (COLD!) mix the pectin, juice and berries.  Now turn on the burner on high, and stir constantly until the mixture comes to a boil.  Add the honey and stir again until it gets to a boil that cannot be stirred down.  Now start your timer for about 10 minutes, and stir slowly the whole time.

Ladle the jam into half pint canning jars.  This recipe may be put directly into the fridge, where it can be kept for a few weeks.  If you choose to process them (which I would recommend), sterilize your jars beforehand (10 minutes in boiling vinegar water), and ladle the jam into them.  Leave about 1/4-1/2 inch head room and process for 5 minutes.  (Note you will need to increase the boiling process time if you live in a higher elevation, please check government standards).

Enjoy!!

Menu Plan

Hubs is doing great on his final stretch of his 21 day challenge. He'll be finished this Saturday, and can move into phase two. He's lost about 15 pounds in these two weeks...makes me kind of sick honestly. I don't think I lost 15 pounds in two weeks. In his two weeks, I've lost 2 pounds...but then again, I've been at this for months. The last few pounds is the hardest.

Mike has also gotten to the point where he's skipping meals.  Lunch will often be a handful of nuts, or a protein shake.  As suggested in the primal diet, 3 square meals are not always happening.  We eat when we're hungry, and if we're not hungry...we just don't eat.  Dinner is the fun meal, we get creative and try new recipes.  On the weekends, we experiment with breakfast and since beginning on Saturday hubs won't be on the 21 day challenge any more we can try some sweeter things.

Monday:
Breakfast: Eggs and diced ham
Lunch: Protein/Electrolyte Shake
Dinner: Steak and Mushrooms

Tuesday:
Lunch: Chicken Salad
Dinner: Out--  Daughter has an audition this night!!

Wednesday:
Breakfast: Walnut Porridge
Dinner: Pulled Pork

Thursday:
Breakfast: Primal Cereal
Lunch:
Dinner: Chicken Pot Pie

Friday:
Dinner: Primal Chili

Saturday:
Breakfast: Vanilla Pancakes
Dinner: Out!!

Sunday:
Dinner: Chicken Tikka Masala

For more awesome menu plans, primal or otherwise look here

Strawberry Yogurt Pops

We had a heat wave the other week.  Not spring weather at all.  The kids were hot and I felt miserable.  Here's a sweet treat I made to cool us all off.

I dug out my small little bullet type blender out of one of our boxes, and made just the right amount of our ice cream popsicle things I got from Ikea the other day.  Here's my recipe.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of strawberries
• 1 banana
• 1 tbsp of lemon juice
• 1 tbsp of honey
• 1/2 cup of full fat greek yogurt.

Place all your ingredients into a blender.  Blend the crap out of them, then pour them into your reusable ice pop makers.    Freeze them for about an hour.

Then give them to your kids, and have one for yourself too.  :)

Pizza Soup - Kid Friendly Primal Soup

Today was one of those days where I just threw what I had in the fridge in the pot, and hoped it came out well.  The kids loved this soup, drank it from their bowls until they couldn't suck down anymore.  This recipe was enough to feed a family of four easily.

Ingredients:

• 1lb ground pork
• 1 can of tomatoes
• 2 cans of water (use the empty tomato can)
• a bunch of celery
• 1 small zucchini
• 1/4 tsp sage
• 1/2 tsp garlic
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1/4 roasted pepper

Directions:

1. In a stock pot, brown the ground pork with the sage, and garlic.  
2. When the meat is cooked thoroughly, add the can of tomatoes.  Use the empty tomato can and add two more cans of water.  You can also use stock if you have some on hand.  I didn't.
3. Cut up a small bunch of celery, in tiny bite size pieces and toss them in.  Let this bit simmer for about 20 minutes.
4. After it's been simmering for 20 minutes, add the zucchini and a small bit of roasted pepper (I had some in a jar).  Simmer for another 20 minutes. 
5. Enjoy!

This is really good with a sprinkle of cheese on top if your diet allows for that.  That's why my kids named this pizza soup.  :)

Menu Plan

After settling in a bit at our new house, I've come to realize I must plan out our meals a bit better. The grocery store is not as close as I'm used to it being, so daily trips to the store are not practical. So, here's my first go at a plan.  This is something I used to do a while back, and got out of the habit when I lived in Colorado....due to it not really being necessary.  Anyway, hopefully planning will save us money too!

This will include memorial day weekend's food too, since we need a solution to food now.  :)

Sunday:
Breakfast: Eggs and Bacon
Lunch: Rolly Meatballs
Dinner: Garlic Pulled Pork

Monday:
Breakfast: Egg Frittata
Lunch: Leftovers
Dinner: Roasted Chicken and veggies


Tuesday:
Breakfast: Walnut Porridge
Lunch: Leftovers
Dinner: Lamb steaks with fresh broccoli

Wednesday:
Breakfast: Eggs and Bacon/Leftover Porridge
Lunch: Grilled Chicken Salad
Dinner: Beef and Vegetable Soup

Thursday:
Breakfast: Eggs and homemade sausage
Lunch: Leftover soup
Dinner: Shepherd's Pie


Friday:
Breakfast: Paleo Oatmeal
Lunch: Leftovers
Dinner: Primal Fried Chicken

Saturday:
Breakfast:German Apple Pancakes
Lunch: Grilled Steak Salad
Dinner: Maryland Crabs (or) Out to dinner

Sunday:
Breakfast: Bacon and Eggs
Lunch: Leftovers
Dinner: Paleo Pad Thai

Honey Glazed Bacon Chicken

A few months ago, I stumbled on this recipe for honey glazed chicken.  It was amazing, and even my kids ate it up.  The recipe linked fits the definition of primal, however I have tweaked it just a bit more to better suit my family's tastes and needs.  Here's how I make it.

Ingredients: 

1 package or organic boneless skinless chicken thighs (usually comes with about 5-6 thighs)
1 package of bacon at your disposal
2 tbsp honey
1/2 organic onion
4 oz. mushrooms
4 cloves of garlic
2 tsp coarse mustard
1 tsp turmeric
3 tbsp butter (sliced)
fresh lemon juice from 1/2 lemon
salt and pepper to taste


Directions:


1.  Put 3 slices of butter in your baking dish.


2. Cut the chicken thighs in half, in strips.  Wrap your chicken strips carefully in the bacon.  Having a whole package at your disposal is definitely helpful.  Depending on the size of your strips, you can cut your bacon in half, or lengthways to get the most out of your bacon.  The more generous you are with the bacon here...the better the rewards.  Line them up in a baking dish.

3. After you've wrapped your lovelies, cut up your veggies.  These are to taste, feel free to skip veggies if you'd prefer.  I think it makes for a more rounded meal with them.  Fill in gaps between your chicken strips in the baking dish with your cut up veggies.

4.  In a separate bowl, add your honey, lemon juice, and spices.  Blend them throughly, then drizzle them in your baking dish on everything.

5.  Bake on 400 for 15 minutes.  Flip these puppies over and spread juices and any leftover honey, lemon mix on them.  Then bake for another 15 minutes.

6.  Enjoy!

Challenge Day 4

The hubs had cravings pretty bad today, but resisted "cookie day" at work.  Here's his lowdown for the day.

Photo credit: http://celiachandbook.com/recipes/southern-fried-chicken/

Breakfast: 2 eggs, over easy
Lunch: Salad with chicken breast, mushrooms, olives topped with oil and vinegar.
Dinner: Primal fried chicken!

The chicken was so good, and we were so hungry we forgot to take a picture.  Which is why I looked for the prettiest picture on the webs I could find.  One day I will learn to take pictures of food like this.  In the mean time, check out my best friend's recipe linked above.  It really was divine.

Challenge Day 3

Quick update!  Challenge is going well, and day 4 has shown some weightloss.  Let's move on to day 3 first!

Monday morning, and hubs had to get to work today.  He made himself a quick couple of eggs, paired with a few pieces of bacon that I had fried up for him the night before.  For lunch he went to Wegman's and made himself a salad.  He piled on the grilled chicken, on some lettuce.  Lots of raw veggies, topped with oil and vinegar.  He said it was a small salad, but a satisfying one.

I was dealing with the movers all day, and managed to only snack on dry roasted almonds until dinner.  It wasn't the ideal way to go, however fasting is a good thing.  I can't say this was a true fast, since I did munch on almonds, but it was definitely a lighter way to go.

For dinner, I modified one of my go-to recipes to fit our needs. Kayotic Kitchen's honey glazed chicken bacon bites are to die for just as she/he lays them out.  I tweaked it for Mike's stage of the diet, using less honey, and added some turmeric for an extra anti-inflammatory twist.  I'll be posting my version later.

There's just something about bacon making everything better.  Hubs loved this dinner (even though he doesn't like onions), and even said with more meals like this...he could see primal working for him.

Anyway, recipe later.  Neither one of us had any weightloss on the morning of day 3...but writing this on the morning of day 4, that's going to change. :)

Challenge Day 2

Today's challenge was definitely more difficult for the hubs.  We started the day with some scrambled eggs, then got to work on the lawn.  Having just moved in, the lawn had some serious catching up to do and we only got the front yard in good order.

For lunch, we met my parents (who I haven't seen for almost a year!!) and our kids at Don Pablo's.  It was so great to see my parents.  Having lived in Colorado for the last two years, it's been so hard for us to get time together.

I got a modified fajita for lunch.  I asked for the meat to be prepared gluten free, and told them to skip the rice and beans.  Since I'm supporting hubs in his first 21 days, I didn't eat the cheese or the sour cream on the dish either.  Lots of veggies, some guacamole, and meat.  Washed that down with unsweetened ice tea.

Hubs had a steak, with some shrimp on a skewer.  For a side he had grilled vegetables.  They did have corn bits mixed in with their vegetables, but he picked them out.


For dinner, we're still bare bones in the kitchen.  We had organic grass fed rib eyes, with fried cauliflower, mushrooms, and garlic.

It was simple, and super yum...and look, we have plates now.  We're still just using simple ingredients, butter...garlic.  We don't have spices, so I don't have any fabulous recipes to woo you with.  Just simple.

All and all, hubs had a rough day.  He was thinking of cake, and sugar, and ice cream.  We went to the grocery store, and he drooled over peanut butter.  I think it's just normal withdrawal and getting used to having restrictions.  He's also having minor headaches from caffeine withdrawal.  I don't think he's seen the end of it yet.  I think day three will be harder, but hopefully after that things will start to taper off.

Moving trucks arrive tomorrow.  Cooking supplies will hopefully be unpacked soon, and we can get more creative in the kitchen.

Challenge Day 1

They say you can do anything for three weeks, right?  Well, yesterday was the first day for my husband to go primal.  I'm doing the 21 day challenge with him, however this isn't my first go.  I've been primal now for five months.

Today, he said his thoughts lingered on the things he cannot have.  The bread, donuts, etc.  He will get used to it, I know. :)

Here's what we ate today:

Breakfast we went out, since we still had no food in our house.  We had eggs and bacon, and home made sausage at a Mennonite Market.

We loaded up the kitchen after we ate, so we were able to cook lunch.  For lunch hubs had a chicken thigh, fried in butter and some raw carrots.  I wasn't hungry, so I didn't have a lunch.

Throughout the day, we also munched on roasted almonds when the urge for a snack hit.

For dinner, we had to get creative.  With limited spices (since they are en route from Colorado still), and limited cooking utensils we had a very simple dinner.  Chicken thighs, baked in butter, with mushrooms and garlic.  The only thing we added was a personal touch of salt and pepper. 

No excuses, right?  Don't have much?  You can still make it work.  We didn't want to wait until our things got here, we wanted to get the bad moods, and crappy feelings out of the way before he went back to work on Monday, and before our children arrived later this week.

I imagine our recipes and meal plans will get more creative as we actually have appliances and other things around the house.

Made it to Maryland!

After three days of driving, and staying with friends and family across the country, I've finally made it to Maryland.  I'm a Virginia native myself, so this is almost a home coming for me.  I grew up on the Virginia side of the Chesapeake, and one of my fondest childhood memories was having blue crab with my family.

So last night, hubs and I found a restaurant only five minutes from our new home with crab.  It's actually very easy to find crab here, it's practically on every corner.  When you move from this area, you realize can't get blue crab anywhere else.  It's outrageously expensive to deliver crab to Colorado, and being as picky as I am...I probably would have been dissatisfied with it anyway.  So last night was an awesome feast, and no...I couldn't finish the pile.

On to different news, today my husband will begin his 21 day primal challenge.  If you're not familiar with what that is...click the link below to Mark Sisson's book.  This is how I got started on the primal diet. I will be joining the hubs on his challenge too.  It's never a bad idea to flip those switches again now and then.  I will try to keep a running log of what we eat, and any awesome recipes we come up with.  It will be a slow start I'm afraid.  We're still waiting on the movers to deliver our stuff...so most of our kitchen supplies haven't arrived yet.  We'll get it up and running soon though.

Nitrates in your food...should you care?

Yesterday I was in the grocery store browsing the food to see what was on sale. More and more I'm getting frustrated with the local grocery store that I've been going to. I'll get on more of why later. However...I noticed something while there today. In their lunch meat sections they had lunch meat labeled, nitrate free. So I read the fine print of some of there meats, and I see Sodium Nitrate, and Sodium Nitrite (note the difference). I'm baffled. Why should I care about Nitrates?

I began my research on why I should care, what is it doing to my body?. Well, first warning I read was that babies metabolize nitrates differently then I do. You can read more about it in the link if you want, but in summary babies under six months of age shouldn't eat processed meats, or cheeses that could have added nitrates in them. Quite frankly though, babies under six months shouldn't have anything but breast milk. Just sayin.

Some researchers believe that too much nitrite in the system (your body turns nitrates into nitrites), can be cancerous.  Although that research hasn't been completely supported by whatever government body needs to support it to be credible.

So why is it there? It's a preservative. It retains the color, wards off bad smell, and prevents the growth of botulism.  There's a lovely thought.  Now, is this on my list of things I won't eat?  Not entirely.  I won't go nutso with this one yet.  I will for my kids, but for myself I'll keep it on the every now and then it won't kill me list.  They can make their own decisions about what they eat when they're older.

Here's another helpful link.

What are your thoughts?

Primal Cinnamon Banana Shake

This recipe and picture is from realgrubbin.com which, looks like is sadly down.  The website hadn't been updated in so long, so I am doing my best to remember this recipe that has been a staple in my primal life.

• One frozen banana
• two tablespoons of almond or cashew butter
• 1/2 tsp of cinnamon
• 2 ice cubes
• 1/2 cup of cold water

Directions:

Place everything in in a blender.  Pulverize and enjoy!!

Picture was taken by realgrubbin.com.  I hope they come back, they had some tremendous recipes!!

Organic vs. Conventional

We've been an organic family for many years now.  Initially that was met with resistance from people that I know, but it's becoming more and more accepted as people learn more about the farming industry.

If not ingesting harmful chemicals wasn't enough to convince you...perhaps this graph can show you the difference.  Yes, you pay a bit more...unless you grow it yourself.  I personally think it's worth the investment.

This chart only shows the nutritional value.  What about the pesticides?  Have you ever heard of the dirty dozen?   Perhaps this little snippet from CNN will inform you a bit too.

Primal Berry Ice-Cream (No Sugar!)

• 1 frozen banana, sliced
• 1/2 frozen berries (any berries will do)
• 2 tbsp half and half (or coconut milk)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

1. Place bananas and frozen berries in a blender.  

2. Add half and half, and vanilla extract.

3. If you have an ice cream maker, pour the mixture in and let it spin for about 20 minutes.

4. Eat it up!  This stuff becomes rock hard in the freezer.  This makes 2-3 servings.  Was perfect for my two kids and I.

Primal No-bean Chili

This recipe is based off my best friend's recipe, you can see the original here.   My version is almost the same, minus the turkey part. :)

• 2lbs of ground meat of your choice (pork/beef mix is one of my favorites).  
• 1 piece of bacon
• 1 onion
• 1 green pepper
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 pint of tomatoes (or 16oz can of crushed tomatoes)
• 1 cup chicken stock
• 1 1/2 tbsp ancho chili pepper
• 1 tbsp oregano
• 2 tsp cumin
• 2 tsp paprika
• 1/4 tsp cayenne (I'm a wimp)
• salt and pepper

1. Put crushed tomatoes and stock into your crock pot, and begin cooking on low.

2. Put in ground meat of your choice.  Please note, if you use ground turkey or chicken you will need added fat, so add 1 tablespoon of tallow/lard to your pan before frying up your meat, or fry up some bacon for the bacon grease as Jessica suggested).

3.  While your ground meat is browning, cut up onion, pepper, garlic and place aside.

4. When meat is almost done, add ancho chili powder, salt and pepper to the pan.  Cook until done.

5.  Put everything in the pan (grease and all) into your slow cooker.

6.  Put the pan back on the burner, and cook your pepper and onion until it's slightly golden.  At the last minute, throw in the garlic.

7.  Place your veggies in the slow cooker.

8.  Add the rest of your spices, and cook on low for 4-6 hours.