Goodbye Summer Garden!

It's the end of July and we're saying our goodbyes to our summer vegetable garden.  It has been a good summer, so it's not in sadness.  We feel thankful for all that Mother Nature has helped us cultivate and we are anxious to get started planting our fall garden fare. 

Gone are the yellow crook neck squash.  Gone are the zucchinis.  Gone are the crawling, climbing vines of our winter squash mix (they're called winter squash because they keep through the fall, not because they are to be grown then).  Gone are our carrots, long to cultivate yet short to enjoy.  All is out of the soil and has nourished our palates, our bodies, and our souls.  I love summer gardening season.

Korey and I have three raised beds in our yard.  Raised beds are the easiest for me because they are the easiest to keep tidy of a lot of pesky weeds.  We only plant a select few vegetables due to all of my lovely intolerances.  Everything in this garden is grown organically, free of all man-made products and bug deterrents.  I've enjoyed these beds for the past two summers.  I've cultivated veggies and have been able to garner the holistic benefit of time spent outside, either alone working or working along side of my husband.  It has been a form of medicine for me, especially in the warmer months.

Yesterday we spent the early morning hours pulling out plants that have ran their courses.  It's incredible to realize how fast the summer has gone by.  It's also incredible to know that you have taken an active role in cultivating the food that you put into your body.  So many people take the food that they eat for granted, not thinking twice about the time that has gone into its creation.  Well, let's admit it (bluntly):  Folks that spend the less time thinking about their foods' origin probably aren't eating REAL FOOD in the first place!

I eat real food.  My husband eats real food.  We grow a lot of our own food, including chicken and eggs.  We work for what we eat and because of that we cherish it and enjoy it through the entire process.  There's something to be said about a dish of roasted carrots that took the entire summer to grow and only one meal to devour entirely!  You have to enjoy it when that much time and effort has gone into it's existence.  Just going to the store and buying a bag of carrots and throwing them in the oven doesn't give you the same feeling...physically or emotionally. 

Here's a look at our not so huge haul of carrots from our garden:

As you can see, this isn't that much yield, and believe me a lot of time went into these babies!  Carrots are so particular, I tell ya!  Damn things...

I told myself Korey and I were going to enjoy these guys as best we could since this was all we were gonna get for the summer.  Let me just tell you, store bought carrots (and yes, even the organic ones) don't do naturally grown, out-of-your-own-backward carrots any justice.  The flavor is much more complex, more earthy, and really takes to roasting VERY well.  So, that's what I did with them.

Everything's better (well, just MORE delicious) with bacon, right?!  I happened to have some left- over bacon grease from breakfast, so I decided that would be the fat that I'd cook the carrots in.  I tossed them in the fat, added a tiny pinch of salt, some fresh cracked pepper and a little cumin and in the oven they went until fork-tender.  As you know I don't time things because it's too much to think about :)  Here's what I ended up with:

They were sooo good!  Korey's not one for al dente veggies, but as aforementioned anything with bacon is bound to be enjoyed...even by my husband!

That wasn't the only thing we enjoyed out of the garden over the weekend.  I also made a luscious, hearty meat sauce with roasted tomatoes that we had canned earlier this summer.  With that I used some grass fed ground beef from Little Creek Ranch, some onion, garlic, and herbs.  I roasted spaghetti squash from my garden and VOILA!  Ultimate deliciousness for Korey.  I was uber jealous since I couldn't eat it.  Long story short, with FODMAPs I can't (well shouldn't, so I choose not to) eat tomatoes, garlic, or onions.  Big bummer, I know.  But I get just as much enjoyment out of seeing my husband enjoy what I make for him.  And he likes being my sous chef/taste tester!



Unfortunately you can't see the mound of luscious squash due to the meaty sauce he piled on top, but you get the point:  It's good eatin'!

I hope at some point you get to enjoy the pleasure of cultivating your own food.  I tell you I wouldn't change a thing, even if it means being dirty, hot, and sweaty and covered in piss ants during any part of the process.  Well, the piss ants are a little annoying but it's just part of it!  I love my garden and am looking forward to the fall's haul!



Korey's (Almost) Paleo Birthday!

Ahhh birthdays! Another good reason to celebrate with FOOD. Come to think of it, though, I do that everyday (it's somebody's birthday somewhere!).  We actually started early by going out to one of our favorite places last night, Josephine’s Bistro in Greensboro.

This has been on our fave list for a while.  We go there for birthdays, anniversaries, and any other time we want to celebrate some occasion, even if it’s just going to dinner with friends we haven’t been out with for some time.  Honestly we’d probably go more often, but as much as I like to cook and as frugal as we can be about our food (not to mention how challenging it is for someone like me with my allergies to go out to eat), we choose to save it for certain days of the year. 

Josephine’s is not an inexpensive place, but it’s not outrageous either.  As with most things, you get what you pay for, and at this restaurant you’re paying for quality, local ingredients, nice atmosphere and great service.  The food is always changing depending on the season and the chef really knows how to make ordinary food taste extraordinary.  I happen to prefer this spot because the chef also is not afraid to push the envelope.  Greensboro isn’t exactly a culinary capital, which makes this a great place for folks who like to try new things.  For instance, on the menu last night were fois gras and bone marrow—two dishes that most folks aren’t willing to give a chance. 

Last night we split the fois gras and bone marrow appetizer.  The fois is so luscious and fatty, packing so much flavor in such a little package.  The bone marrow is spoonable and luxurious.  The dish comes with crustini, but who would want to ruin a good marrow by spreading it on bread…not me!  These two are served with thinly sliced poached pear and a dried fruit compote.  This provides just enough acidity to cut the fattiness of the fois and marrow, but it’s not too sweet to be overpowering for an appetizer.

Korey and I both ordered the duck breast, his medium rare and mine rare, of course.  For those of you who are unfamiliar with duck breast, it should be served as close to rare as you can stand to really appreciate the quality of the meat.  Plus, there’s the added bonus that rarer meats are more easily digested—always a good tip to remember if you’re digestion is somewhat compromised as mine is.  His duck was served with an arugula salad, hard boiled quail egg, white beans and fingerling potatoes (the last two items are obviously not Paleo, but when it’s fine dining there’s only a sprinkling so he just ate around them).  The plate was drizzled with a blueberry gastrique.  I had to change my order, of course, and had the chef prepare wilted greens and roasted radishes to nestle around my duck.  Let me tell you, as always I didn’t miss the “regular” side dishes that are paired with the duck!  The skin was perfectly crisped and because the breast was rare, the integrity of the duck remained in all of its wonderfulness.  I couldn’t eat it all, although I truly wanted to!  Delicious. 

Okay, I’m about to start talking dirty.  By “dirty” I mean I am about to use language that I normally do not use in spoken or written form.  Keep in mind it was Korey’s birthday and since he eats cleanly 90% of the time, I can overlook one mishap.  After he had devoured his entire dinner (and that was one large breast!), he wanted one of their house-made desserts. He chose the peach cobbler with Homeland Creamery vanilla ice cream.  Homeland Creamery is a local business, only a few miles as a crow flies away from our little house.  I suppose this made it an acceptable choice to him!  That type of thing doesn’t appeal to me in the slightest, thank goodness.  They say, though, that folks like me who have fructose malabsorption that the thought of sugar tends to make one feel queasy…that’d be my response to desserts.

We truly enjoyed our dinner in all of its fabulousness.  In fact, Korey had actually ordered a melon gazpacho to only find out that it was so popular that they had ran out before we got there!  Because of this, I’ve decided to try and make one for him to go alongside of his dinner tonight…his actual birthday dinner!

Before I get into tonight’s eats, let me fill you in on his birthday breakfast.  See, Korey’s pretty typical for breakfast.  He usually looks at it as fuel and doesn’t stray far from his usual path of a few scrambled eggs, a little ham or turkey and some sliced avocado if it’s here at the house.  Even on the weekends, this is usually what I throw together for him before we start our morning chores and grocery haul.  We had two lone tomatoes sitting, perfectly ripe on the front porch rail.  I also had a little leftover barbeque that Korey had been eating off of a couple nights this week.  So, what did I do?  I sliced off the tops of the tomatoes, scooped out the innards, leaving little tomato cups.  In a bowl I cracked an egg and whisked it up.  I chopped the bbq into small pieces and added it to the egg.  After drizzling a little coconut oil into the tomatoes and seasoning with a little sea salt and fresh cracked pepper, I divided the egg/bbq mixture into the tomatoes.  Lastly, I mixed together a little almond flour and coconut oil, making somewhat of a crumble.  The tomatoes were full and then some!  I topped them with the crumble and poured the residual egg from the bowl on top to help with the browning process.  For presentation’s sake, each tomato went into its own decorative ramekin, and I put them in a 425 degree oven for about 30 minutes (it takes a while to get the eggs cooked through).

I heart pretty ramekins!

By this time, Korey had gotten out of bed (since I let him sleep in) and he had no idea what I had concocted.  He was so surprised and thrilled to have something new that I hadn’t made for him before.  He LOVED them!  So I was one happy wife!

After breakfast we lounged around for a bit.  I worked out and then he worked out and then we had our snacks together.  I had my usual sardines and cucumber lettuce wraps.  I threw together a plate of sliced ham, baby carrots and sunbutter for him.  While we snacked we watched Alton Brown discuss beets and all of their culinary greatness.  As usual, Alton spikes an interest in Korey to go and do whatever he’s done with whatever ingredient as soon as he can get his hands on it.  Today, as I mentioned, it was beets.  So, we finished up, got cleaned up and went to town to buy beets. 

That leads me to what I have planned for tonight.  I already said I’d be giving melon gazpacho a whirl, so I’ve got a fresh cantaloupe, a bag of tomatoes out of the garden, and a few other things that I’ll list in the recipe later.  I’m also going to steam the beets, slice them thinly on my mandolin, and drizzle them with some extra virgin olive oil and organic balsamic…maybe some crumbled feta and coarsely ground black pepper as well.  For the meat, I’m making a HUGE grass-fed hamburger steak (from Little Creek Ranch) with caramelized onions and a red wine reduction.  I think he will be very pleased!   It’ll be the best 27^th birthday meal he’s ever had!

It was almost too pretty to eat!

Garnished with a little fresh basil from my herb garden.

There's an 8 ounce hamburger steak under there somewhere!

Melon Gazpacho

Eight to 10 red tomatoes, seeded

2-3 cloves of garlic

One cantaloupe

One small, sweet onion

Extra virgin olive oil

Balsamic vinegar

Sea salt

Pepper

Cut the melon in half and discard the seeds.  Scoop the flesh into a large bowl. Cut the tomatoes into small pieces and mix in the bowl with the melon.  I try to keep mainly the flesh without all of the watery parts and seeds.  Add the raw garlic cloves and the onion, roughly diced. Use a blender to process the mix until it has the consistency of a thick soup. Pour in the olive oil to taste. A liberal splash is best. Add a dash of balsamic vinegar, no more than a large tablespoon. Add salt and pepper and blend it all through one more time. You can eat the soup with this rough texture or sieve it for a smoother finish. Keep in the fridge for at least an hour before you eat it.  I served mine with a few pinches of shaved coconut and fresh parsley leaves for some fun and texture.  (A little coconut never hurt anyone!).  I hope you like this fresh summer starter.  I know Korey did!

San Diego...Paleo on the Road!

One of my biggest pet peeves is the excuse that eating Paleo is impossible when you travel.  I know for sure that this isn't the case, as I've traveled to many states now, through numerous airports and stayed in a myriad of cities, all while managing to maintain my usual, clean, Paleo-fabulous lifestyle.  The excuses usually come from folks that fail to plan and use traveling as a reason to eat crap since it's only "temporary" and they'll get back to "normal" when they get home.

Although traveling is only a once in a while kinda thing for Korey and me, there's a usual process that I go through to make sure that we can eat the way we want after we touch down and for the duration of our stay.  Airline tickets...CHECK.  Hotel room reserved...CHECK.  Closest Whole Foods or health food store within reasonable distance of hotel...CHECK.  Refrigerator reserved for hotel room to enable grocery preservation...CHECK.  All of this takes place in only a few minutes while sitting in front of a computer with a cell phone nearby.  DAMN, that was hard!  Whew...I think I broke a sweat...NOT!

So, we spent most of last week in San Diego, California.  Who could ask for an easier place to find and eat healthy food, right?!  (Even though a lot of the locals think eating healthy = cubed and marinated tofu teriyaki with a side of quinoa and lentil salad and a glass of freshly juiced wheat grass...buhhhhhh.)  We knew it'd be easy to find a Whole Foods that would have lots of local, organic veggies.  We also knew the restaurants in downtown San Diego would serve up some of the freshest caught seafood and fish you could imagine.  Luckily for me most of the restaurants downtown were more on the haute cuisine side which typically means you're paying more for the food and atmosphere, so the chefs are more likely to prepare things the way you'd like--even if you're loaded with a ton of allergies and "odd" food requests!

Touch down in San Diego, first stop after settling into the hotel...Whole Foods.  It was such a beautiful day that we decided to walk the 3.5 mile trek to get groceries--modern day hunter gatherers!  Let's just say we opted out of walking back since the following was what we ended up with on our WF hotel room haul:

Romaine hearts
Local cukes
Local zukes
Baby carrots
Jicama sticks
Avocados
Apples
Deli-sliced organic turkey
Coconut flakes
Sunbutter
Kombucha for the weekend (for me)
Zevia (for Korey)

We were hungry so we concocted some snacks off of the salad bar and we were ready to take the cab back to the room. 

I know what you're thinking...where's the protein in all of that?  To answer your question, that was part of my pre-departure planning.  Ten cans of sardines in water is an absolute STAPLE for me when I travel.  TSA doesn't really like them too much, but I've managed to get on a plane with them even after they've been removed from my carry-on, swabbed down and placed into a government-approved zip-top bag.

Breakfast, snacks and lunch had to be our of our fridge--for me anyway because while I was in conference, Korey could walk around San Diego and had time to catch meals out if he wanted.  Every morning I had a couple cans of sardines, cut up zucchini, a few baby carrots and a handful of coconut flakes.  Wash that down with some hot rooibos tea and I was good to go!

Snacks on my breaks:  jicama sticks or baby carrots with coconut flakes and plenty of water.  I was doing a lot of working out and needed to replenish.

Lunch was a typical go-to for me even when I'm at home.  I mix sardines with cut up cukes and make lettuce tacos with romaine hearts.  Top that off with more coconut flakes to make sure I'm getting in plenty of healthy fat, fiber and calories to get me through my long days.

Dinner was always out.  Nice restaurants.  Delish seafood.  There wasn't a single meal, I thought, that I didn't eat fish in one form or another--now you know that included breakfast as well!  I had the most beautiful baramundi at a place called Blue Pointe that was to DIE for!  Scrumptious white fish with a crispy skin, slightly fatty, buttery texture, served over a bed of local mixed greens and gingered julienned snow peas.  This was my favorite meal.

I know this meal plan for the trip doesn't sound too exciting for the majority of the meals I had.  But, the point is that while on the road and in a hotel I managed to eat within the same principles that I live within at home.  It wasn't hard, it just took a little planning on my part to make sure I would be prepared and able to eat that way.  For each restaurant we went to, we'd let the server know ahead of time of the food allergies that they needed to be aware of, and as I mentioned earlier, they took good care of us.  Was I embarrassed or ashamed, NO.  They took appropriate care of me...remember if I get sick after eating their food if they serve it to me without following my request, that's on their head.  Thus, they HAVE TO follow suit....and they did!

Fast forward to the end of the trip where we ended up spending umpteen hours in the airport due to horrific experiences with UNITED airlines.  (I won't even go there with that story...I don't have time, nor the patience to get into the whole ordeal.  Needless to say, it was AWEFUL!)  As you know airport food is exactly the opposite...not real FOOD.  When left to find something to eat after hours of forced fasting, I landed on GERBS roasted pumpkin seeds from the airport gift shop.  Good fat and fiber to hold me through until my next meal (little did I know it was going to be a LONG time until then!).

Breakfast the next morning was pistachios from the same gift shop.  Again when left to trying to find something to eat when all there is are fast food chains and kiosks full of processed crap, nuts seem to be the go-to.  At least I knew they'd hold me over for a good while.  They did. 

We ended up having to rent a car from D.C. and drive home (I told you it was AWEFUL!).  Once we got on the interstate, we pulled over to find an alternate, quicker route.  WHAT DO YA KNOW, a Trader Joe's!  It was snack time and we had found our mecca!  Sardines, baby zukes, some deli mustard and romaine leaves...YUM!  I was starving for protein.  Korey had some TJ's roasted turkey and a Larabar (his go-to snack item).  This was our last meal until we hit Chapel Hill, where we got food off the hot bar and salad bar for a late lunch.

Many lessons were learned on this trip...none of which pertain to eating on the road.  We know how to do it and that it can be done.  Put a little effort into it and it can be done.  The more you worry about it, the less time you end up planning.  I've always heard the saying if you fail to plan, you should just plan to fail.  It couldn't be truer when it comes to eating healthy when you travel.  You are in control of what goes in your mouth...remember that!

Sunday was a changing day in my life.  And, no, not like a Dr. Phil "it's gonna be a changing day in your life" kinda day.  This was an experience I never imagined I'd partake in, BUT I did.  I survived.  I enjoyed it.  And I'd do it again.  Period.

Above are 15 hens, roughly 2 years old.  These are the hens that once gave Korey and I our eggs.  These hens were raised by Ronnie, the man who we buy our grass-fed beef from.  Last week while at Ronnie's, stocking up our beef he mentioned to us that he was interested in getting rid of his hens as they were aging out of egg production and he needed to find them a home.  After talking with Korey about it when we left, we thought it was a great opportunity for us.  Of course, I'm thinking FREE MEAT--WHAT COULD BE BETTER...even though it would come at the price of having to slaughter them ourselves. 

We gave him a call this week and let him know we'd come by any day to get them.  Any day was yesterday.  We gathered the hens early in the morning, toted them up the road back to our house, prepped our shed for what was to come and got to it.  After a few hours of hard, dirty work, we had 15 hens stocking our deep freezer...well, 13...one went to dinner and one went to this week's batch of broth!

People might turn there noses up or question my decision to take the lives of these chickens in the manner that I did, but it wasn't inhumane, the chickens didn't suffer and we used every usable part of these beautiful birds that we could...nothing went to waste that could be eaten in one form or another (by us or our dogs for that matter).  I'll caution those that tend to be a little squemish, as the following set of photos may be a little much for some folks.  Keep in mind that these birds lived long lives on a farm, freely roaming and stress free.  They never suffered and were never tortured, even on the day that they gave their lives for our nourishment.  They were never confined, forced to live in such tight of quarters that they never learned to stand or walk.  Their beaks weren't cut off to prevent them from pecking and they weren't electricuted at their time of death. 

Which would you prefer to have placed in front of you on your dinner table?!

We took pictures of the entire process to document exactly what we had done for future reference since this was the first time in doing this for us.  I've left out the pics associated with the actual demise of the hens.  I'll admit it may be a little hard to look at, but I think back to the stories of my grandmother and how it was just a means of getting dinner on the table.  That's what gets me through...and the fact that I know there was no suffering involved.  Below you'll see me with the first bird to go into the water.  After they've been humanely killed, and drained of any remaining blood, the bird has to be immersed in 150-160 degree water for a period of 30-45 seconds.  This process makes the feathers come out with ease.

De-feathering the birds was actually my favorite part. They came out so easily. We were so surprised. When you're done, it almost looks like the whole fryers that you see in your local grocery store.

Dad and I took the reigns with the feathers while korey continued to prep the birds for the scalding process.

Here's the haul all fresh and clean of their feathers before the gutting...there's simply no other way to put it folks.  You have to get what's on the inside out, no matter how gross it may be.

Trying to figure out exactly how to start this part of the process was key.  You never want to make the wrong cut and end up contaminating the meat...this would easy to do since all of the "cleaning out" is done primarily from the business end of the bird.

As you can see in the pan on the right, some of the birds had "presents" left inside.  Out of the 15 hens that we cleaned, we harvested 3 ready-to-eat eggs.  Nature is such a wonderful thing, full of surprises!

These are all 15 hens, cleaned and ready to go inside to be prepped for the freezer.  We also saved the hearts, livers, and kidneys...and the FEET (smiley face!).  Andrew Zimmern would be proud of my willingness to try and find a use for chicken feet!

We're almost done with the process...if an only if the damn vaccum sealer decides not to act up!  It did fine, thank goodness!  Here I'm simply taking some tweezers and removing any remaining feather follicles, rinsing the hens and getting sealing bags.

This is what a long morning of hard farm work looks like!  We were so proud of ourselves and the best part about it is that we don't take our food for granted.  We know where it comes from, how it was raised and how it made it to our table.  I totally enjoyed the experience, learning what my grandparents considered second-nature.  Through the whole day I kept thinking how my Grandma Grace must be looking down on me and how happy she must be. 

Korey and I are very grateful for the food on our plates.  We can now say we know exactly where our beef comes from, where our pork comes from, where our chickens came from.  We have our own chickens for eggs now and meat later.  Korey and I hunt for dear and he hunts turkey.  We have fish in the two ponds on our property and we grow a plethora of veggies.  It couldn't be better than this! 

Praise the Lard!

I did the coolest thing yesterday.  Albeit, most people would probably not agree with me, BUT most people are stuck in the fog of conventional wisdom/living/breathing/etc! 

As you know, Korey and I live on a farm, in the country, out in the middle of beautiful NOWHERE.  We love it.  This Saturday we are having a pig pickin' for the owners and staff of my workplace, Fitness Together.  This will be the 2nd annual Meadows-hosted pig pickin' and we are thrilled to have folks out to the house.  I mean, I get to cook, entertain, EAT WELL, and be with folks that I enjoy being around.  Who could ask for more?!

Back to the coolest thing...

This year Korey wanted to go all out with the vittles, so he decided no matter how few folks we were going to end up having at the house, we MUST have a whole hog for the cooker...for the visual, of course.  (You gotta know that we're just about the only true country folk that wonder the streets of metropolitan areas, so it's kinda cool to freak people out with whole, dead livestock!)  Well, we were invited out to the farm where we purchase our local, pastured pork yesterday.  We've been buying from him, Brian, for quite some time but we've never been to see the pigs. 

We got there and in front of me was literally a HERD of freely roaming, freely grazing hogs of all sizes--from babies to sows and boars of at least 400-500 pounds!  Loud as they could be, they'd squeal and play and eat and repeat.  Brian had some separate from the rest of the herd in a smaller area.  These were the ones for us to look over to choose for our cookout.  We chose one of about 100 pounds, a small-to-medium pig that would easily feed 50 people; but WHAT THE HELL, WHY NOT?!

On the way back home I couldn't help but think about how awesome my life is.  I live a mile from my beef farmer, a mile-and-a-half from my pig farmer, I raise my own chickens and collect my own eggs, and right now we have a garden so abundant with produce that we literally don't even have to leave the house for groceries!  How could it get any better?  What people don't understand, or realize even, how far we've come from just a mere 50-75 years ago.  A complete ancestry of living off of the land only to be quickly trumped by convenience, impatience, and lack of desire to know where our food comes from. 

There's something to be said about knowing exactly where your food comes from, not simply how it's prepared.  Last weekend we bough 11 more hens to add to our flock.  We don't plan on eating these hens (at least not right now) but they will provide us with nutrition by way of eggs and eventually by the sacrifice of their own lives.  Ronnie, our beef farmer, was once our egg man.  He now has some layers that are aging out and is willing to give them to us for free--to have when we want to eat them.  I can't say I've even slaughtered a chicken, but there's a good deal of freedom in knowing where those hens were raised, that we took them into our care (another stress-free environment), and took good care of them until the day that they would give up their lives for the purpose of our consumption.  With their sacrifice, we will enjoy the experience of using the entirety of it's being.  The same goes with our hog.

Korey will pick up our hog, already slaughtered and ready for the cooker Friday afternoon.  With it he will also pick up what modern society usually tosses out back--the liver, heart, kidneys, and other 'odd bits' that most folks turn their noses up to in disgust.  What burns me up is the disrepect these animals are given once they've given their lives for us to be able to continue ours!  Not to mention the greatest nutrition is found in the parts that aren't usually on modern-day menus.  If you're going to spare an animal's life, enjoy and be grateful for all that the animal had to offer for crying out loud.

I look forward to every BIT of that pig.  Praise the Lard!

Hold the mayo...or NOT!

This is not just your typical post about mayonnaise.  Is there a typical post about mayonnaise?!  Well, either way, I'm gonna talk mayo in a moment, so bare with me! 

What I want to talk about first is the importance of understanding not only your own preferences when it comes to food, but also consider the preferences and/or limitations of the ones around you.  I've made it pretty clear already that I have several food restrictions that are necessary if I want to remain feeling top-notch and as healthy as I possibly can.  People around me know this about me and have known for long enough to accept it as reality and understand that I'm not just being a bitch or insulting their cooking/their eating habits/etc.  It certainly took a long time for people to really understand that I didn't have an incredibly restrictive diet that border lined on an eating disorder.  I didn't choose this for myself (who would want to limit themselves from the majority of nature's bounty of vegetables and fruits?!) and I certainly wish I could CURE myself of all that ails my poor little digestive tract but that just AIN'T HAPPNIN'.

There's this little 30-day commitment.  I'm sure at least some of you have heard of it:  The Whole30.  This program is a 30-day period of strict Paleo eating--eliminating grains, dairy, legumes and anything else that poses psychological, hormonal, intestinal, and auto-immune distress on your body.  I have completed the Whole30; Korey and I made the commitment in February this year.  Now, granted, all I had to give up at the time was stevia and protein powder, but I did it anyway for two reasons:  to see I could possibly feel any better (which I DID!) and to help support my husband who was in need of a dietary clean-up.  I've stayed off of these two things ever since and I've never felt better.  Where am I getting with this, you ask?  Here we go...

I've recently gained a friend.  Her name is Jennie and we bumped into each other via facebook (believe it or not!) through her Paleo-based blog called Easy Paleo.  As it turned out, she buys her grass-fed beef from a farmer that is literally right down the road from my house.  With very few folks our way that actively live a Paleo lifestyle, I had to contact her and make friends!  There was also the added bonus that we both love food and we both love to cook, so there's always something to talk about.  We've had lunch a couple of times during the work week and got along well, so we decided to have our husbands meet and have a little dinner get-together at my and Korey's house.  The dinner took place last night.

Jennie and her husband, Dustin, are currently doing their version of the Whole30--a Whole43 as a matter of fact (taking it to the end of July, I believe).  This meant that since I was hosting, I'd need to take this into consideration when creating our menu.  Now, let's just come out and say it...it's easy to avoid grains, dairy, and the like if I don't already eat that stuff!  But, the point is that I was so accepting of the choice they are currently making and I by no means was judgmental or questioning their reasoning for committing to the program even though they live very similarly to Korey and me.  The even greater lesson comes from Jennie's end.  She knows (and accepts) my dietary limitations and gladly cleared all the ingredients she would be using in the dishes she was bringing to the dinner.  No questioning, no sneering, no NOTHING!  For once, it's so nice to have someone for dinner that understands the reasons you eat the way you eat and doesn't make it point to POINT OUT what you're eating and what you're not.  And, can I just add right here that our meal was AMAZING, and there's no way in this world any of us felt deprived!

It's good to know Paleo peeps!  And that's all I'll say about that. 

Now for the mayo...

It came up in conversation last night that my one-and-only attempt at homemade Paleo mayo was an EPIC FAILURE.  Not only did I waste a butt-load of good olive oil, but I wasted a lot of time.  I ended up with a milky, watery, tangy dressing and NOT A MAYONNAISE.  Since I'm not good at being NOT GOOD at something, I totally wrote it off and swore I'd never try THAT again!

Jennie admitted she had similar issues with her attempts in the past, but after talking with her, it seems she's got it figured out.  I was inspired...I decided I was going to tackle that mayo again...and WIN.

Flipping through all of my Paleo cookbooks, I ran across a recipe for which I wouldn't have to go buy more ingredients that what I already had at the house.  I'll admit I had one bottle of not-so-great-but-usable-on-a-rare-occasion-when-there's-nothing-better olive oil that I was willing to scrap if I failed again.  A couple of other things appealed to me about this particular recipe:  it required a mix of coconut oil (which intrigued me given that coconut oil is solid at temps greater than about 70 degrees) and it used only the yolks of the eggs (folks like me with auto-immune disease should avoid the whites of eggs due to certain proteins in the whites that can wreak havoc on our intestinal tract).  With all my ingredients in-house, it was time to (literally) beat this mayo once and for all!

Remembering why I had probably failed last time--pouring my oil too fast and being inconsistent with my whipping speed--I wanted to make sure I took it nice and easy, mustering up and exercising all of the patience I possibly could to do this RIGHT this time. 

Mixer on low...

Oil added one spoon at a time...

Continuing to mix...

More oil...

Mix some more...

More oil...

You get the idea.  Then, finally...SUCCESS!  I'd reached MAYO PERFECTION!  I'm not even a mayonnaise person, never have been even in my not-so-healthy days; but I had done something that I didn't think I could.  I was elated and proud...and still am!  It just goes to show that even if you've failed in the past, with enough guts, patience, and positive thinking you can do anything you put your mind to...even if it's simply making mayonnaise!

How about the recipe?  It's from "The Paleo Diet:  Cook like a Caveman" by Anna Conrad.

2 egg yolks
1 tsp mustard (I used 1/2 tsp dry mustard)
3 tsp lemon juice
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup coconut oil, melted but not hot

Mix together yolks, 1 tsp lemon juice and mustard in a blender or food processor.  (I used a hand mixer on the lowest setting for this recipe.) While blending or mixing (still on low setting), add the oil very slowly, even drop by drop in the beginning.  You're creating an emulsion and if you add too much oil at once, it will separate and will be very hard to save.  Mix non-stop, using a towel under the bowl to help stabilize the bowl.  As you add more oil, the emulsion will form, the mayo will start to thicken, and you can pour the oil faster at this point.  When all of the oil is incorporated and the mayo is thick, add the rest of the lemon juice (I only added one other tsp, not 2) and season with salt and pepper to taste.  Enjoy without guilt! 

Mr. Meadows

Oh, my husband.  How I love him so.  He's my perfect match, made especially for me and I'm sure of it!  As you've read, you can't really know me unless you know something about those that are around me.  Of all people, he's the one that knows me the most and owns the most square feet of my heart.

Much like my dad Korey's a good 'ol country boy.  (In fact, he's pretty much a near replica of my dad, just 40 years younger!)  He grew up in Eastern North Carolina in a "town" by the name of Maysville.  This is the type of "town" that most people never leave if they were born there.  If you're from there, you know everyone there and are probably related to them in one way or another.  Fortunately for ME (because I am admittedly selfish this way) he made it out of Maysville to the big city of Raleigh where we met when we were both attending NC State.

The summer before my senior year and his junior year were the beginnings of the life that was meant to be shared by the two of us.  A twisted triangle of drama and emotions worked its way out and spawned a love that you could never truly describe unless you've felt it for yourself.  There was just something about him from moment one that lead me to believe that I was going to be his wife one day.  As much as I was independent and swore off the idea of marriage, HE changed me--and the rest is mostly history.

We got married in May of 2008.  It was the best day of my life.  I cried uncontrollably through every second of the ceremony (strange feeling to not be able to control tears streaming down your face or SNOT dripping out of your nose!).  We were both so happy, so blessed...and still are to this day!

Korey is a Registered Forester.  He works in the woods.  That's what I can tell you.  I'll admit I'm not that keen on exactly what it is that he does.  I figure as long as he enjoys it and makes a decent living and we are secure in our mortgage/savings/fill-in-the-financial-blank, then we're good!  Needless to say he's active all day, trekking up and down and up and down.  This is his exercise.  In fact the last time he worked out on a regular basis was spring of 2010 when I basically "made" him do P90X with me in an effort to get him working out again.  He made the 90 days (which ironically ended on his birthday), and after that it's once in a blue moon that he'll do some push ups or hang the pull up bar.  Bless him.  He's still fit and looks great, but I'm still constantly encouraging him to stay fit enough so his back/shoulder/fill-in-the-joint doesn't hurt.

His nutritional history, you ask?  Let me hold back the disgust and disdain!  Or NOT!  Let's just say his mother was never (and still isn't) a fan of vegetables.  If it didn't come from a can and wasn't a soggy green bean, it didn't get served when he was growing up!  Well, I take that back...potatoes and corn were in there every now and then, BUT I said vegetables and these certainly don't count in my book!  Then there's the cooked cabbage.  By the term "cooked" used here, I mean "boiled to death and devoid of all that could have made it a healthy choice."  Korey grew up eating frozen pizza, boxed hamburger-enhanced dishes, family-sized cans of spaghetti, all with absolutely no nutrition other than calories.  Did he make it out alive, yes, but I'd say barely!  At least he made it out of Maysville!

When Korey and I first started dating, I was a "healthy" eater.  I should probably just chalk one up and admit that I was a victim of conventional wisdom back then--a low-fat (mostly NO-fat), high-fruit and high-grain, and adequate protein kind of eater.  I was aware of what I was doing and I was an avid exerciser (in hindsight I now know I was an OVER-exerciser).  He had carried the same eating/food preparation habits to college from Maysville.  The one and only time he's ever cooked a meal for me consisted of processed kielbasa, boxed mashed potatoes, canned green peas, refrigerated-bake-and-eat croissants, and sweet tea.  Yes, I ate it even though that was stepping outside of my comfort zone even then.  Did I mention this was the only time he's ever cooked for me? 

We've both come a long way since.

Since we've been together, we've both evolved.  He had a little farther to go than I did.  The first time he ever touched a sweet potato was in the form of a sugar-laden, dessert-like sweet potato casserole I made when his grandmother passed away.  Sweet potatoes were one of those things he "didn't like" even though he'd never even tried them.  I hate that, don't you?  Now he has them on a daily basis...sans the CRAP!

He does a great job now of keeping his eating as clean as he can manage.  Back in February I encouraged him to do a Whole30.  I told him I would do it with him to support his efforts, although all I had to give up was stevia extract and protein shakes (I should mention I haven't had either since completion, so it goes to show you the power of that 30-day program!).  He had to give up sodas and really watch it with bread.  He can control what he eats at home, but since he's on the road every day for lunch, he'd been known to stop at some mom-and-pop joint and have a burger and fries.  During the 30 days, he eliminated soda and when subject to the mom-and-pops, he choose a meat and the vegetable "of the day" type of meal.  After the thirty days he's only added back Sierra Mist, because in his mind it's the "best of the worst" since it's "natural."  I won't go there...

In all that I've gone through from a health standpoint, he appreciates the importance of eating the right foods.  Unlike a lot of folks around me, he doesn't think I'm radical or fanatical.  He doesn't think I have an eating disorder.  He loves my creativity in the kitchen and he's learning to prepare paleo-style meals for himself when I'm not there to cook.  I couldn't be more proud of him.  I'd say that he'd probably say the only downside to this lifestyle change for him is how frustrated he gets when he goes home and is subject to the same crap he grew up on.  Not to mention he wants to explain to his family why what they are eating isn't healthy only to get slapped in the face with an unwillingness to listen and make changes.  The saying "ignorance is bliss" has come up before when we've looked back on how we've changed--back then when we didn't pay attention and didn't care, we certainly weren't frustrated when our families were shoveling crap down their throats and ours.

Korey has learned a lot.  He's learned enough to pay it forward.  This is all that I really ask of him, after simply taking care of himself first.  He's my love, my best friend and my sous chef (and gladly so!).  I couldn't ask for a better partner in life...and I'm pretty sure he feels the same way!

The Parentals

Today is Monday, June 18th.  With every passing day I realize just how much my life is it's own story--not story like documentary story, but story like sitcom! 

Yes, I know this is supposed to be a blog about Paleo living, eating, cooking, yada-yada; and here I am delving into "My life, the sitcom" mumbo jumbo.  It's reasonable for me to say that in order to really understand me and my day-to-day, you have to kinda get to know my surroundings--my home, my husband, my animals, and (bless their hearts) my parents.  This by no means is a shot at my beloved mother and father, because (of course) without them yours truly wouldn't be here to enlighten your world with all of my nutrition-wonderfulness, right?!  Let's just say that the two of them not only provide me with the unconventional love expected of parents to their (only) child; BUT they are an endless source of entertainment for me and my husband.  I love them with all of my being, however sometimes I have to say that I may find myself snickering (if not sometimes snearing) behind their backs!

Let's start with Dwain--my precious daddy (and yes I still call him that, and will until the day I'm pushin' up daisies!).  He's of a different generation, a good 10 years older than my mom and on into his "retirement," though he still goes to work just about every week even if all the workday entails is drinking coffee with the other older folks in the shop.  I shouldn't say that, most of the time he's there he's the one doing all the hard labor that building machines involves even though he's so beaten down from a lifetime of just that!  Anyway, let's just say he's set in his ways--a good 'ol country boy, born and bred to work hard. sleep little and take care of his family.  He doesn't know healthy eating.  His idea of a good lunch is a peanut butter and banana sandwich (with the addition of mayonnaise!).  He's got a few health problems, including an adulthood of high blood pressure that's had him in the hospital a few times over the years. Despite this, he remains a pharmaceutical guinea pig, reporting the doc every 6 months or so to receive yet another experimental blood pressure-regulating cocktail.  I think he has the desire to be healthy, but the know how just isn't there and my teaching him--as I've found--is out of the question.  What's interesting about my daddy, however, is that as Korey and I have embraced the Paleo lifestyle by eating organically and sourcing our meats from reputable farmers, he's doing his best to understand and appreciate the reasons why we choose to do so.  Maybe there's hope that he'll be on board one day, but as for now he'll eat whatever is put in front of him by my mom who does the shopping and the cooking.

My mom, Margarget.  Love her dearly.  I'm her only child and I know that she loves me with every cell in her body, there's no question about that.  She's the product of a broken marriage--independent at an early age, marrying my dad and acquiring two step-daughters when she was twenty years old.  A move to the country from the city wasn't where she expected to end up in life, but she's obviously accepted it as how it is and has been there ever since.  She's very intelligent and witty and opinionated, all of which I adore about her, but now that I'm an adult it seems we tend to but heads on a lot of things--mainly my lifestyle and "new" way of eating.  She's been on this journey with me as I've been diagnosed with my autoimmune issues.  Not knowing much about the body and how the immune system can actually attack YOU and not just BAD STUFF INSIDE OF YOU, she doesn't quite understand the complexity of why a childhood of eating the way I did growing up could have contributed to a lot of my issues.  I often feel bad that she must in some way feel responsible, especially since I've tried to explain to her that there's a strong genetic component with things such as gluten sensitivity and celiac disease.  She's got a few of her own health issues.  Much like dad, her blood pressure has a tendency to run high.  As far as I know, the rest of her blood work checks in "okay," but as you'll eventually learn about me, I'm a firm believer that conventional parameters are a bunch of crap when it comes to diagnosing chronic illness.  She, too, doesn't eat healthy food.  I'm pretty sure she still cooks the same way she did when I was growing up:  a meat, a veggie, and a starch (a lot of which came out of box...think Rice-a-Roni or Velveeta Shells and Cheese).  Can't really get over the convenience factor, I suppose.  I'm also pretty sure that they order a lot of take out these days for the lack of desire to cook once she gets home in the evening.  It truly worries me--now that they are getting older it seems, to me, that they should be putting an even greater effort, but that's simply not the case.  Let me reiterate that I love my mother so much, but I've given up on discussing healthy eating habits with her.  Not sure what the mental block is, but I can only be called "dictatorial" so many times.  You can only help someone that wants to be helped.

Now you've gotten the idea of where I come from and atleast my closest genetic contributors.  Interesting duality isn't it?  Now, as you know, I haven't always trekked down a path of healthy living.  I was a product of my upbringing, like my dad I ate what was given to me--and gladly so, I may add.  I was an overweight teen and young adult.  I overate.  I binge ate.  I didn't exercise.  I hated the way I looked and the way I felt.  All the while my parents would have never guessed my struggles.  They loved me no matter how I looked, and as far as they knew I felt fine. 

Now that I'm grown and going on thirty, the whole concept that I will no longer eat the way they eat is still very foreign to them.  Like I mentioned, daddy is trying to understand.  Mom tries to understand why, but I believe she's still somewhat skeptical and wants to write everything off as radical and fanaticism.  She thinks I'm unhealthy because I'm thin, not realizing how unhealthy I was when I was fat.  Frustrating!  Try as I may with my mom, no good doctor report trumps a mediocre one--it's all not good news as long as I'm still thin.  (Note:  When I mentioned "snearing," this is when that would occur!)

As for all of that, I've come to terms with the fact that no matter how healthy I am physiologically, as long as I appear "too thin," I can't possibly be healthy.  I've also come to terms with the fact that trying to explain otherwise does me no good, unless confrontation is a good thing.  So, I just eat what I want to eat and try not to look when I see them eat what they want to eat.  I just wish they could afford the health I have found, simply by changing what they put on their plates.  Sadly, the connection of food and health is still completely foreign to them, especially my mom.  I hold out hope for one day, but right now I'm at peace with knowing that I've done what I can to help...take it or leave it.

I won't get into the sitcom portion of my story today, as I've already rambled sooo much about the parentals already.  Sometimes it takes an actual event to spawn and interesting description.  Leave it to nature and soon there will be a post about how comical my life can be.  Right now I want to leave you with the fact that I want nothing but health and happiness for my parents.  I have hoped that they would follow in the same foot steps as I have, gradually learning the do's and don'ts of how to eat for longevity and against chronic illness.  Fingers crossed they come around because I want them around....forever.

My POV

With this entry, I'm dedicating myself to maintaining a steady stream of useful, knowledge-based information geared towards enlightening the general public about how they've been screwed by Big Food and Big Pharma.  How have they been "screwed," you ask?  Well, look around you.  What does the typical American look like to you?  A healthy, vibrant, full of life, stress-free, fit individual?  I think NOT!  The typical American is exactly the opposite--an unhealthy, worn-out, lifeless, stressed out, unfit bag of bones covered in an unnecessary amount of body fat that's laden with toxins and inflammation.  (And, by the way, you don't have to be "fat" to be over-fat.  "Skinny" folks can be thin and have too much fat--the same fat that leads to chronic illness and disease.)

I've been on my journey for many, many years now.  I've had my ups, my downs, and my share of unhealthy weight loss tactics.  Yes, I've traveled down SlimFast Road a time or two, and I've even traversed Highway Diet Pills.  Let's just say that was all out of shear ignorance and a desire to be thin, not necessarily healthy.  I'm happy to say I've reached optimal health when it comes to how long I'm destined to live.  Given my current lifestyle, I'm going to live a long life full of joy, happiness, and healthy stress and completely void of chronic illness, inflammation, and disease.  I'm still technically young, but my journey has been a long time in the making, slowly cultivated over the course of several years.  I've learned a lot about the human body, the do's and don'ts of exercise, and how to nourish my body in ways that promote top-notch health.  Yes, I've gotten it wrong in the past.  BUT, I assure you now I know what's right, and I feel that through my struggles I've gained the insight and the desire to encourage others to think twice about conventional wisdom and listen to what you're body is desperately trying to tell you..."I want to thrive, not just survive!"

What is this "lifestyle" that I mentioned?  Well, you could say that the common terms used for the way I choose to live, eat, and move are "paleo" or "primal."  My husband, Korey, and I have dedicated our day-to-day routines to living this way, having started in the beginning of 2010.  I got turned on to the concept of Paleo eating through my research on the use of coconut oil for body heat regulation.  Seems odd, doesn't it.  You see, I was having a really hard time with cold temperatures and through some of my daily reading habits I ran across the use of coconut oil to boost metabolism.  A side effect of an elevated metabolism is better thermoregulation.  So, I gave it a shot.  Long story made extremely short, my interest in coconut oil spawned a domino effect of reading several texts that lead to me to a work by Robb Wolf, author of The Paleo Solution.  In reading this book, I realized I had several of the same issues as Robb describes enduring.  Let's just say, I related so much to him that I had to fix my problems in the same manner he fixed his--by way of eating and exercising the way mankind was designed.

I've gone through many health problems as a result of a childhood and early adulthood of high-calorie, yet nutrient-poor eating habits--all of which surfaced right before and during my Paleo pursuit.  I've been diagnosed with an auto-immune disease called Hashimoto's Thyroiditis, a condition in which my body attacks my thyroid gland, causing chronically low thyroid function.  I've also realized I have many food allergies including a severe allergy to gluten--what I believe is actually the devil reincarnated!  Tack on lactose, nightshades, and FODMAPS (don't worry, you'll learn all about these terms as I carry on.).  Before going Paleo, I was well on my way to fibromyalgia since I was suffering from chronic fatigue and adrenal exhaustion.  Did I know this at the time?  Umm...no.  One thing I know to be true:  You never know how bad you felt until you feel better!

Like I've mentioned, I've come a long way.  I'm a personal trainer by education and trade.  I make a living teaching and guiding appropriate exercise, yet I've had it all wrong in the past.  I fell victim to conventional wisdom's "move more" approach, making myself exercise to the extreme and (sadly) encouraging my clients to hit the cardio as often as they could manage.  Today, of course, my view has changed--for myself and certainly for my clients.  I'm a recovered over-exerciser, chronic cardio-er.  I now know more is not better, and if anything, it's worse!  Where the real problem lies, however, is that conventional wisdom hasn't yet seen the light and folks are still under the impression that they need to "eat less and move more" to achieve weight loss and health.  Not only is the media misleading the general public, but the medical community still thinks that calorie-restricted diets that focus on low-fat and high-carbs combined with hours on the treadmill is the key to longevity and optimal health.  This couldn't be farther from the truth.  Call me radical, but sometimes I wonder if there is a hidden agenda:  Medicine is a business and businesses need customers to stay in operation; so, as long as there are sick people keeping the waiting room full, then business is booming!

The purpose of this blog is to dispel conventional wisdom, taking what I've learned about the human body and what it takes to live healthy and happy.  Yes, there will be a rant or two (or ten) sprinkled throughout, I'm sure; but it's all in an effort to pay forward the knowledge I've gained through my own successes and failures.  You'll learn a lot about me, my husband and my "kids" (we'll get there later!).  I want to be successful at keeping at maintaining a blog, for this is something that I've failed at achieving in the past.  From today on, I'll try to educate, enlighten and guide you in the right direction by way of information, experience and some fun stuff too...like recipes!  (Who doesn't enjoy a good recipe?!)  Please hang with me, as I can be a little talkative.  Just know it's for your own good to listen!