Nell Stephenson's Blog, page 50
July 22, 2014
Livestrong, You’ve Got It Right!
When I saw the subject line of a recent article on Livestrong, I had to admit, I cringed.
“7 Healthy Paleo Dinner Recipes” sent me straight to all the pseudo Paleo ideas out there- things using grass-fed dairy, or gluten-free soy sauce or huge amounts of honey…but happily, none of these things applied!
Whoever contributed to this piece really did their homework as all seven recipes truly are Paleo. And not just technically speaking, but honestly so.
From the mention of wild caught shrimp in the pad thai recipe to the use of cashews rather than peanuts to the mention that ‘if you are not strictly Paleo you may opt to add cheese to this recipe’ (thank you, since dairy is not Paleo!), it was clear that time and effort and researching accurate sources went into this article which I would definitely recommend checking out for yourself.
Well done, Livestrong!
July 21, 2014
Paleo Recipes That Aren’t
I just came across a Pinterest page entitled Healthy Paleo Snacks and Treats. Of course, I had to take a peek.
And, of course, many of the recipes were just…not.
A few in particular that stood out:
Guilt-Free Ice Cream! Just 3 ingredients: frozen bananas, peanut butter, and cocoa powder (peanut butter?)
1/2 cup peanut butter to 1 cup greek plain non-fat yogurt. (peanut butter…and dairy, too?)
Blueberry Yogurt Cookies. Made with greek yogurt -no butter or oil in them. ( so not just dairy, but low fat dairy?)
apple sandwich with granola, peanut butter, and chocolate chips (really?)
These things are not Paleo. Even if we swapped the peanut butter for almond butter and the dairy for full fat coconut, it defeats the purpose if you’re eating these concoctions regularly, rather than using them to make the occasional special occasion splurge.
The idea is to mimic what our ancestors ate, with foods readily available to us in our farmer’s markets, grocery stores and our own gardens, to create an alkaline, balanced, local, seasonal means of eating real food.
The idea is not to take an item representative of the Standard American Diet and work backwards from an acid forming, leaky-gut causing recipe, replacing some ingredients with slightly less offensive, semi-Paleo-ish ones and create a high-sugar, refined thing to eat with no protein, no veg and no balance.
If it seems like it doesn’t really make sense within the realm of what True Paleo is, such as a peanut-butter and granola ‘treat’, it probably isn’t.
Be creative! Mix and match, go for color, flavor, taste and variety. And if one decides to eat something that is not Paleo and take a picture of it and post it online, go ahead and do that, too. But please don’t pretend it’s still Paleo. It’s only going to confuse people and not reap any benefit from eating these (non) foods… the very things that make people ill in the first place!
July 20, 2014
Healthy School Lunches- Forever An Oxymoron?
I certainly hope not.
But there’s clearly a lot of work that needs to be done.
Just this past week, I had an opportunity to speak at length with a woman who teaches kindergarten at one of New York City’s Public Schools.
She commented that yes, there are vegetables offered, but they’re so horribly prepared that even she, someone who loves eating well, steers clear of them as they’re overcooked, brown, mushy and odorific. She rarely sees the children eating any of the items deemed ‘healthy’ and admitted she hardly blames them as they all seem to fall into the same genre- absolute unappealing.
She brings her own salad for lunch every single day.
What can we do?
It’s hardly as easy as making a quick call to the principle, asking to revamp the menu. Ha! If only…
But that doesn’t mean shrugging our shoulders, throwing our hands in the air and letting the kids continue to eat breaded, deep-fried pseudo meats and refined carbohydrates along with some nice, low fat chocolate bovine bodily fluid every day.
We can make little, yet significant changes without even getting political.
Start small: ask your children’s classroom teacher if you and perhaps a few other parents might form a group to collectively prepare a healthy lunch once a week.
Look into starting a small classroom garden to have the kids engaged in learning how veggies grow and how great they taste when they’re local and fresh.
Inquire about taking the children on a field trip to see a nearby farm or nursery to witness sustainability in action.
For older kids, see about arranging a screening of some of the great documentaries available now, to show them where their burgers are coming from, and how the animals are treated, and what they’re supporting when they frequent McDonalds.
Whatever idea you have, don’t be afraid to reach out and do your best to implement it. Leading by your own example, others will intuitively want to do what you’re doing when they see you at your True Paleo best, at a healthy, lean body weight, with clear skin, pain free motion and a glowing energy, all thanks to proper eating.
It’s not insurmountable when we consider that we can all do something about it. It’s just not an option not to!
July 19, 2014
Which Foods Should You Not Eat After Their Expiration Date?
Um…. all of them? If they’re food in the first place?
Why does food need to have a printed date on the label, and why does it need a label? Is it even food then?
Oh, dear, here I go.
Yesterday, I received and email with the subject line asking the question above. Or, rather, it was going to tell me the top ten foods not to eat after their expiration date.
As if to say there are others that are ok to consumer after they’ve ‘expired’?
Oddly enough, when I opened the email, I never found the article which was going to enlighten me on what those ten foods were, so, alas, I cannot share them with you, but really, let’s think about this.
How about just buying fresh food, prepping it and eating it in a timely manner and not having to worry about an expiration date (or that darn label), and just relying on common sense?
For example, an apple purchased last week that was left to sit on the counter top and is now brown and fizzy should not be eaten. And on the other hand, the basket of organic strawberries that was purchased this morning at the farmer’s market should be.
Not too hard.
Please. If you have anything in a package with a label (and there certainly are some foods that can fit into this category and still work for an In A Pinch Paleo Scenario), check the date. If it’s old, toss it. There is simple no good reason to risk it. (And further more, please don’t give the contents to your dog; our beloved canines aren’t rubbish bins!)
Just. Eat. Fresh. True. Food.
July 18, 2014
Got Twenty Minutes? Then You’ve Got Time to Make Dinner!
“I don’t have time to cook“, is one of the most common complaints I hear from clients.
“After a busy day with the kids, or twelve hours at the office, the last thing I want to do is spend hours slaving away over a hot stove“, is another.
Well, guess what?
Neither have to be the reality. If you can find twenty minutes, you can prepare a healthy meal.
Here’s great example of what one client, who is the mom of two young kids, prepared at 7:00 PM recently after her two month old had gone to sleep, and her three year old ‘helped’ our by drawing a menu for her dad, so that all would be ready for his 7:30 PM arrival home from the office.
First, she took some grass-fed flank steak out of the fridge and let it come to room temperature.
Then, washed and spun dry some arugula and fresh basil, then placed it in a large salad bowl.
Next, she washed some broccoli florets, some strawberries and an avocado.
Then, she chopped some garlic.
After that, added the berries and avocado to the arugula and basil and set that bowl on the table.
She then heated a cast iron skillet over medium and seared the flank steak for two minutes on each side, then placed it on a plate under foil to let it rest.
In the same skillet, she heated some coconut oil and sautéed the garlic for about three minutes.
Finally, she added the broccoli florets to sauté them with the garlic and oil.
She peeked at the clock, saw that it was 7:20 and realized she had ten minutes to hang out with her daughter an praise her for her artful contribution.
All it takes is a little mise-in-place and a bit of planning and we can all find the time to create a healthy, fresh, Paleo dinner, in the same amount of time one might spend heating a crappy, frozen meal and staring at the microwave until it’s defrosted.
You choose!
July 17, 2014
Salads Aren’t Just for Starters
Who ever said a salad had to be little, boring and not remotely filling?
The joke that salads are the equivalent of ‘rabbit food’ usually comes to a screeching halt when I have guests for dinner.
I don’t do anything that I’d call too fancy; rather, I just let my creative cooking mind guide me and create a salad based on what’s in season, as well as what I’ve got in the fridge from the farmer’s market or CSA!
I approach it from the mindset, too, of wanting my table to be colorful and that rich depth comes from the food, not my choice of linens.
Last night, for example, the salad was wild baby arugula, strawberries, red onion, leftover roasted carrots, basil, Heirloom tomato and some wild Coho Salmon baked in coconut oil to top it all off.
Preparing something like the example really illustrates the essence of what a salad really is.
In fact, check out the definition:
“A salad is a cold dish of various mixtures of raw or cooked vegetables, usually seasoned with oil, vinegar, or other dressing and sometimes accompanied by meat, fish, or other ingredients.“
Sounds like it hits the mark to me!
Not only is it a healthy, Paleoista option, it’s also a very time and cost effective one. Even if you’ve got no ‘leftovers’ in the house, in the amount of time it takes to pan sear or bake whichever protein you’re going for, you’ll have plenty of time to wash and spin your lettuce, chop any raw veggies, set the table, pour some water and call the family to the table.
Plus, in the summer when you may not want to cook, but prefer something cool and crisp, the salad entree fits the bill here, too.
And don’t forget to make extra; the salad without any oil (skip the not-so-Paleo vinegar) won’t go limp in the fridge over night and will set you up for the perfect lunch tomorrow.
Cheers!
July 16, 2014
Meat Quality and Paleo
One very, very important distinction about the True Paleo regime is the source, and subsequent quality, of our proteins.
Fresh, wild salmon and packaged, smoked salmon are not interchangeable. Nor are the occasional serving of uncured bacon from pastured pork and the Oscar Meyer’s shrink-wrapped, sodium nitrate and nitrite-rich variety.
And when we get into the real nitty-gritty, things like regularly eating hot dogs, sausages, deli meats and the like, it gets even more straight forward: for the most part, avoid it.
Unless you’re getting sliced, cooked turkey that came from a pastured bird and was prepared with nothing added, or you personally know the farm that makes the sausages out of nothing but grass fed meat in pastured pork casing, chances are far greater than not, that what you’re getting will contain any combination of the following (ingredient label from the original Ball Park Frank with descriptions courtesy of Green Food Living):
Mechanically separated turkey: Looking more like strawberry frosting than blended meat and bone bits, the USDA defines mechanically separated poultry (MSP) as “a paste-like and batter-like poultry product produced by forcing bones, with attached edible tissue, through a sieve or similar device under high pressure to separate bone from the edible tissue.” Hot dogs can contain any amount of mechanically separated chicken or turkey.
Pork: According to 1994 USDA rules, any meat labeled as the meat it is can be taken off the bone by advanced meat recovery (AMR) machinery that “separates meat from bone by scraping, shaving, or pressing the meat from the bone without breaking or grinding the bone.”
Corn syrup: A combo of cornstarch and acids, corn syrup is used as a thickener and sweetener, as MSNBC notes — it contains no nutrients but does add extra calories.
Beef: In 2004, to protect consumers against Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (mad cow disease), mechanically separated beef was considered inedible and prohibited for use as human food, so be glad you won’t be finding it in your dog.
Potassium lactate: This hydroscopic, white, odorless solid is prepared commercially by the neutralization of lactic acid with potassium hydroxide. The FDA allows its use as as a flavor enhancer, flavoring agent, humectant, pH control agent, and for inhibiting the growth of certain pathogens.
Sodium phosphates: Any of three sodium salt of phosphoric acids that can be used as a food preservative or to add texture — because texture is important when you’re eating a tube of meat paste.
Flavorings: Under current FDA guidelines, most flavoring agents allowed to be listed as “flavor” rather specified individually, so, this remains a bit of a mystery.
Sodium diacetate: The FDA allows its use as an antimicrobial agent, a flavoring agent and adjuvant, a pH control agent, and as an inhibitor of the growth of certain pathogens.
Sodium erythorbate: Side effects have been reported, such as dizziness, gastrointestinal issues, headaches and on occasion, kidney stones.
Maltodextrin
Sodium nitrate
Compare that to what you’d be eating if you simply ate a grass-fed steak. There would be no need for an ingredient label, but if there were, it would be:
Grass Fed Steak
Don’t fool yourself into thinking that a pack of hotdogs is a cost-effective way to get your protein. Even bunless with no side of fries, they’re still a Paleo No Go.
July 15, 2014
Aw, Go On, Have Some! No One’s Looking…
This was the premise of an ad I glimpsed: a young-ish couple, having recently put their kids to put, made sure no one was around to ‘catch them in the act’, and then out came the Lucky Charm’s Cereal and the hidden Nintendo Console for a ‘fun’ evening of playing Super Mario Brothers and eating sugar-cereal.
OK, I get the nostalgia about SMB; and will go so far as to admit that I, too, enjoyed playing it back in the day (when I was 13), but the cereal?
Come on. Why is that even interesting? And why must we perpetuate the idea that it’s just fine and dandy to have some, for old time’s sake.
Is it life or death? No, but for many, many people, just that little, first taste of the white stuff (sugar, not crack… or whatever), is enough put them over the edge, heading straight for a binge that lasts longer than just one meal.
The answers is relatively obvious; the cereal industry is a multi-million dollar one, and their job is to keep selling product. The easiest way to do so is to keep the idea alive that cereal is great, not only to start the day (as if), but for a meal substitute or even for a post-dinner treat, the latter of which, incidentally, is at least most inline with what it should really be classed as: a dessert.
Cereal is not a lot of things. It’s not healthy, it’s not Paleo, it’s not a good way to start the day and it’s not really food. Here’s what it is: a refined, processed, sugar faux-food that is fantastic at spiking blood sugar levels, helping the body to store fat, cause skin break outs and rashes and help pave the way to leaky gut.
Still feel like sneaking some of that it?
Regardless of ‘not getting caught by the kids’, is there any real gain?
Pass the fresh berries, please…
July 14, 2014
Paleoista Webinar Tomorrow!
Interested in learning a little about what the real deal of True Paleo living is all about?
Discover the Benefits of a Paleo Diet tomorrow…for free! Tune in to a webinar hosted by Sprouts Nutritionist Janet Little as I present Eat Food and Move!
“Gain energy, get lean and feel fabulous with the diet you were born to eat. Discover how to incorporate the Paleo diet into one’s day-to-day life with ease, efficiency, and style.”
Speak to you tomorrow; there’s a Q&A period at the end!
July 13, 2014
Microwaveable Yams, Wrapped In Plastic
The other day, I stopped into a little market to pick up a few bits that I was short on for my the cooking I’d planned to do for myself and my husband this weekend.
Since we had two rather long days with big volume training in the queue for Saturday and Sunday, I planned on making our workout-preparation staple, baked yams.
Only the market didn’t have the usual organic yams. They only had yams, wrapped in plastic, with a big, blazing announcement on the label stating that they were ready for the microwave.
Pardon?
So, to save time, I’m supposed to place what would otherwise be a great way to fuel my muscles for a big workout to come into a microwave, tightly wrapped in plastic so that when I eat it, I’ll get a nice dose of phytoestrogens and BPA with my starch?
No, thanks.
I’ll stick with baking them in water in a glass dish, or preparing my Paleoista Baked Yam Fries, neither of which call for plastic in the preparation!
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