Challenge 2: Shopping More Thoughtfully

In a perfect world, every store would sell only organic fruits and veggies.  All meat would come from farmers who treated the animals with dignity and fed them an appropriate diet.   Dairy would come from cows who haven’t been pumped full of growth hormones.  We could walk into our backyards and grab some eggs from our own chickens for breakfast.  All coffee and chocolate would be fair trade and the workers who harvested it would be paid a fair wage.

Oh yeah, and as long as we’re talking about a perfect world…..we could all afford to buy this food.

But that’s not the real world.  In the real world, sometimes it’s hard to even find organic produce.  In the real world, your grocery store only carries commercially raised meats that have been fed GMO corn.  In the real world, you could stand all day looking at the egg selection at your grocery store and still not know which one was the best choice.  In the real world, even if you have all of the wonderful options at your fingertips, you simply can’t afford to make the best choices all the time.

So let’s get real.  In the past year, I would say our family has transitioned to eating about:

30% organic produce

85% responsibly raised (or wild caught) and appropriately fed meat

70% organic dairy (we don’t do much dairy, but I buy organic milk for our yogurt and use organic half and half for my coffee.  Cheese has been a massive fail for us.  I just grab and go.)

I am so very lucky to have a friend whose parents have chickens.  We get our delicious eggs from them, and supplement as needed (which is about 10-20% with cage free storebought eggs).

So in the spirit of these weekly challenges, where our point is to get us all a little bit closer to where we want to be food-wise, here is the challenge:

This week, while shopping, buy at least 3 kinds of organic produce (ideally this would be produce that you don’t already buy organic).  Make one “better” choice when buying your meats.  Choose wild caught salmon, tuna, or shrimp.  Buy an organic chicken.  Get grassfed ground beef.  If you buy eggs from a supermarket, look for cage free.  For dairy, buy at least one item organic (that you would normally buy conventional).  Local is also a great choice to make, but do the best you can!

Why is this important?  Every time you buy any kind of food, you are voting with your dollars.  Every time you pick up the organic strawberries at Target vs. the conventional ones, it changes an amount in a tally box, and if enough people make this choice, eventually the CFO looks at these numbers and says, these organic strawberries are getting popular.  We need to carry more organics.  Which then helps the organic farmers buy increasing their business.  It is also a wake up call to other farmers that they might do more business if they make a switch to organics.  (Yes, I just totally over simplified that, but hopefully you get my point.)  Alternately, if you keep buying pop tarts and Chips Ahoy, you are telling someone, somewhere:  I am happy with shoveling crap into my body.  More, please.

Choosing organics is healthier for you, and it is healthier for the people working the farms.  It is healthier for our soil and our earth.  But don’t walk in the grocery store and simply buy the first 3 organic kinds of produce you see.  Every year the EWG (Environmental Working Group) releases 2 guides that can help you with these decisions.  They list the kinds of produce that retain the most pesticide residue of all–these are called the Dirty Dozen.  If you are going to buy any organic produce, it is in your best interest to choose foods on this list.  Then there is the Clean 15.  These are foods that it isn’t overly important to get organic.  For instance, if you follow this lists, you will see why we rarely get organic avocados or sweet potatoes, but why we always, always, always get organic apples and celery.

So what about meat, dairy, and eggs?  Why does this matter?  Well, if you are an animal lover like me, you want to have a good feeling about the farms where your food is raised.  If you have to think about the animals who made your food, you would like to think of them in a pasture in the sunshine, not in a dark, infested feedlot, where they are being pumped full of antibiotics.  Also, their diet is important.  Just like your body works best when you are eating foods that were meant for you (not processed food-like substances on grocery store shelves), their bodies work best, feel best, and taste best when they are eating diets that are appropriate to them!  For instance, cows were never meant to eat corn–as a matter of fact it is harmful to their health and digestion!

When the animals are eating like they should and being raised or wild-caught, you are also benefiting (and not just because your conscience feels better).  For instance……

Wild salmon is actually better for you than farmed salmon.

Grass-fed steak has about twice as many omega-3s as a typical grain-fed steak.  And since grass-fed cattle are typically leaner, almost all cuts of grass-fed beef have less total fat than beef from corn-raised cattle.

As for eggs, cage free, farm fresh eggs really are much more delicious than regular store-bought eggs.  Their yolks are big and bright orange and you can see the difference immediately!  I have found, when I have to buy storebought eggs, that the Target brand cage free eggs also have beautiful dark yolks!  I once bought “farm fresh” eggs at a farmers market and was so disappointed that the yolks were small and pale 😦

So how to implement all this?  Luckily this is the season of farmers markets.  Granted, not all produce you will find at local farmers markets is organic, but it’s a great chance to ask questions.  Possibly the farmer uses mostly organic practices.  They should be happy to tell you about their practices, and if not…..there is probably a reason.  Many regular chain grocery stores carry some organic produce–I get organic kale and greens at Publix, organic strawberries, celery and carrots at Target.

For meats, I get all of my chicken from Costco–they have organic chicken.  They also have organic ground beef, but it is sadly not grass-fed.  However, this is a step up from conventional ground beef!  I tend to get my grassfed beef and other cuts of beef from local farms (at farmers market or at local stores).  Pork has been a really tough one to come by around here.  When I do find local, clean pork, it is very cost-prohibitive!  I get wild salmon, wild shrimp and wild tuna from Costco.  I have also gotten clean meats by ordering online.  Grassfed Traditions and US Wellness Meats are 2 reputable websites to order clean meat.

Organic milk, cream and yogurt is widely available.  Organic cheeses are less so, but do what you can!

Be sure to check in during the week on Facebook!  Share your organic produce finds or where you got your clean meat.

Happy shopping!

 

Thoughts on the Veggie Challenge

 

Things I learned this week during our family veggie challenge:

1. By turning it into a competition, I had my kids requesting vegetables at breakfast, lunch and dinner.
2. Making vegetables (to suit each person’s tastes) at breakfast, lunch, and dinner takes a little bit longer than I had hoped.
3. Because they were eating more vegetables, my kids ate less fruit.  I noticed that they tended to stay fuller longer, and requested fewer snacks.
4. Eating fresh veggies all day long means you have to go to the grocery store A LOT in order to stay stocked up.
5. Even if you bomb your first two meals of the day, an enormous salad for dinner is a great way to get back on track.
6. Now that my kids have had veggies for 3 meals a day for an entire week, they no longer consider veggies just a “dinner food”.

Needless to say, the veggie challenge was a huge success at our house.  Did you have any takeaways from this week’s challenge?

Challenge 1: Eat More Veggies

I wanted to start our challenges off with something that could be of benefit to everyone.  I also didn’t want the first challenge to be too overwhelming, causing you to throw your hands in the air and quit on the spot.

This week, we are going to eat more veggies.  More in quantity and more in variety.  I am challenging everyone to eat at least 3 servings of veggies every day.  And it should be at least 3 different kinds of veggies every day. (a serving of veggies is approximately 1 cup)

Not to open a Pandora’s box or spark up a debate, but for the purposes of this challenge, we are not going to consider corn and white potatoes as veggies, as they really are starches.

Now there are probably 2 camps of readers out there.  One group thinks this sounds like a decent challenge—but not so big that they can’t do it.  The other group are people who are already eating 3 veggies every day (or more).  If you fall into the second group, great!  But join us still.  Maybe you can shoot for 4 or 5 servings of different veggies every day.  Personally I probably eat around 3 or 4, but my kids eat more like 2, so I will be working extra hard on them this week.  I think we can all agree that we can do better in this area!!

Here are some ideas to help you get more veggies into you and your family this week (and from now on!).

• Add some veggies to your eggs!  Whether scrambled eggs, an omelet, or a breakfast pizza–mushrooms, onions, bell peppers, spinach, kale, tomatoes all work well!!  If you have a really clean jar of salsa, add some of that too!!
• Make a “hash” using butternut squash or sweet potatoes as a base.  Wal-Mart sells bags of pre-cubed butternut squash in their fresh produce section.  I grate 2-3 sweet potatoes at a  time in my food processor to use for this.  Add what sounds good to you!  Bacon, sausage, leftover chicken, then just start throwing in more veggies!
• Snack on veggies.  Keep carrot sticks, celery, bell peppers and cucumbers on hand and eat them with guacamole (make homemade or find a very clean storebought brand–Wholly Guacamole is a good one) or hummus.  (Please note, hummus is not considered Paleo, because chickpeas are legumes.)
• A perfect late afternoon snack is a simple sliced avocado.  There are a million ways to dress it up (this paleo pad thai sauce is delicious!), but sprinkled with salt and pepper is a winner every time!
• When your kids are getting hungry for dinner, but you don’t have everything quite ready, set out a plate of raw veggies.  Catch them at their hungriest and present the veggies in a colorful, appetizing way!
• Have a pizza….but serve it in a portobello mushroom instead of on a pizza crust.
• Try cauli-rice!!!
• Wrap it!  Ditch the bread and have your chicken salad, burger, or turkey sandwich wrapped up in lettuce!  Or try these Asian lettuce wraps.
• Add some spinach or kale to your smoothie!  If you are new to green smoothies, start with spinach.  It is very mild and you will not notice the flavor!  To mask the green color, use berries–your smoothie will end up nice and purple, so the kids won’t notice either 🙂
• Grill some kabobs–fill the sticks with onions, zucchini, mushrooms, eggplant!
• Have a salad, for pete’s sake!!

Don’t forget to get the kids involved.  You might want to keep a little tally on a piece of paper or a dry erase board in the kitchen.  Set the goal for the family (4 veggies/day) and let each child mark a tally for every serving they eat.  To make it even more interesting, offer a reward for if they make or exceed their goal (please do not make the reward junk food!).  Consider offering an extra 5 minutes of electronics or an extra book at bedtime.

Please comment with your tips on eating more veggies, and also let me know if you are going to be participating!  I will do my best to offer encouragement and yummy veggie ideas throughout the week on my Facebook page!

See you in the produce section!!

Cheeseburger Pie (Primal, SCD)

Back in the day, I bought Bisquick.

True story.

When my husband and I got married 10 years ago, I had no idea how to cook.  My repertoire was meatloaf and spaghetti and meat sauce.  That was about it.  So when I discovered that the Bisquick box, had recipes….it was ON.  There was a recipe on the box called Impossible Cheeseburger Pie.  Now that I think about it, I think it’s kinda funny that they called it “impossible”.  Especially since tonight I recreated it (grain-free) without a second thought.  But back then, I thought it was magical.  I’ve come a long way, baby.

So tonight when I was wondering what I would do with my thawed out pound of grassfed beef, I remembered that cheeseburger pie, and realized….it wasn’t so impossible after all.

Here’s the secret, y’all:  it’s basically a fritatta.  Of course, this info would not have helped me 10 years ago, as I had no idea what a fritatta was.

I didn’t really take any measurements for this recipe, but trust me, you’ll do just fine.

Cheeseburger Pie

1 pound ground beef

1/2 onion, diced

any veggies that you have on hand

5 eggs

cheddar cheese (optional)

salt, pepper, garlic powder

Preheat your oven to 350.  Brown your ground beef and onions in a skillet.  I also added mushrooms to mine.

 

Drain the grease.  Season with salt, pepper, and garlic powder (or any other seasonings that sound good to you!)

Grease a glass 8×8 pyrex dish (I used coconut oil) and add your meat to the dish.

If you are using cheese you can sprinkle it on top of the meat.  I used between 1/4-1/3 cup of shredded cheddar cheese.

Then because I had spinach on hand and I wanted to make it colorful, I sprinkled spinach on top.

Next just beat 5 eggs and pour on top.  (You can certainly use more, I just didn’t want it to be overly eggy!)

Now bake for about 20 minutes or until the egg is firm.

Serve with whatever sounds good!  We had roasted carrots, seasoned with cinnamon and nutmeg, and raw veggies.

And there you have it.  Cheeseburger pie–no bisquick required.

 

Let’s Do Better Together

You know what I love?

I have such sweet readers–really I do.  Many of you have no interest in being paleo or grain-free, and yet, you come here faithfully to see what I’m rambling on about.  I have mad love for all of you, and frankly, it’s not my goal to get you all eating paleo.  {GASP!!}  But I really would love to have some small part in encouraging you.  Giving you ideas.  Helping you move a little closer down the road to where YOU want to be.  Feeling healthier, maybe.  Having more energy.  Less aches and pains.  Feeling a little better about what your kids are eating.

With that in mind, I got the idea for weekly challenges.  Each challenge will be designed to get you eating more “real” foods, and will hopefully help broaden all of our horizons.  Basically, I will post a “challenge” every week….for instance, one week the challenge might be something like:

Try 3 new (real, whole) foods this week.

Then I could give you some ideas of more obscure things to try and post links to recipes for you.  I will be participating and doing my best to challenge myself as well.  I am certainly not perfect and have plenty of room to improve!  Throughout the week, we could check in with each other via Facebook and I can be your cheering section.  Seeing what other people are trying might give you ideas, and you might be the inspiration for someone else.  Eating cauliflower for the first time deserves a virtual high five, know what I mean?  And I’m here for you.

All of the recipes I post will continue to be paleo, and I hope you stick with me.  But in the meantime, we can all do better.  So if this sounds good to you, be sure to sign up as a blog follower.  That will ensure that all challenges and recipes get delivered right to your inbox (Facebook likes to limit what you see from me).  If you plan to participate, spread the word to your friends, family and co-workers.  Sit down with your spouse and kids and talk about WHY you want to do this.  Get everyone on board!!  Challenges are even more fun when you are doing them with people you like–especially those that you can see in person 🙂

I will do my best to get the first challenge issued Saturday!

Paleo Salmon Cakes and Sweet Potato Chips

I made a simple summer supper last night.  It was delicious, healthy, and didn’t require me to thaw anything out or turn on the oven.  If you are like me, you need to have a few easy go-to meals for those nights when you wait to late to thaw anything out or if your brain is just too fried to think straight.  Hopefully your days of ordering a pizza are over.  Our go-to meals on days like this are Applegate Farms all-beef hot dogs and omelets.  But these salmon cakes are just as easy and much more delicious.  I buy canned wild salmon at Costco, which makes it easy for me to grab a couple of cans out of the pantry when I can’t decide what to make for dinner.

The recipe for salmon cakes is ridiculously simple and basic, which is the point.  Feel free to add any of your favorite flavors or spices to personalize it!

Salmon Cakes (makes 8 small/medium cakes)

2 (6 ounce) cans of wild salmon, drained

1/4 cup almond flour/meal

1 egg

1/3 cup onion (I prefer white onion, but last night I used green onions, because that is what I had)

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp smoked paprika

Put all ingredients in a bowl and mix by hand.

Heat up some olive oil in a skillet (I use medium/medium high heat) and place the formed patties into the olive oil to cook.

Brown both sides.  Depending on how warm your pan is, the total amount of cooking time will probably be about 8-10 minutes.  Serve warm.

Much to the delight of my family, I also made sweet potato chips–a simple and delicious treat.  I slice my sweet potatoes using my food processor.

Then I add them into a cast iron skillet that has about 1/2 of heated coconut oil in it (I keep the temperature very close to medium–4–while frying these).  Turn as needed and fry until the chips begin to darken.

I place them on a paper towel on a plate and add salt.

We had some leftover slaw on hand and I added some raw veggies and we ended up with a very easy and delicious summer meal!