Diane Sanfilippo's Blog, page 68

Easy Recipe: Spaghetti Sauce

This recipe is a great choice to enjoy while on The 21-Day Sugar Detox. 

spaghetti sauce

grain-free • gluten-free • dairy-free • nut-free • sugar-free • sweetener-free • 21DSD

PREP TIME: 5 minutes

COOKING TIME: 30-35 minutes

YIELD: 3-4 servings

NUTRITION INFO: coming soon

ingredients:

2 tablespoons bacon fat, lard, coconut oil or other cooking fat (I used strips of lardo that I diced and rendered down)
1/2 cup yellow onion, diced
sea salt & black pepper to taste
2-3 cloves of garlic, minced or grated
18oz diced tomatoes (I like Jovial or Bionature brand)
1 tablespoon basil, fresh or dried, chopped
1/2 teaspoon oregano, fresh or dried, chopped
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

preparation:

In a sauce pan over medium heat, melt the bacon fat and cook the onions until they are translucent, approximately 5 minutes. Season with sea salt and black pepper.
Add the garlic and stir in to cook for an additional 30 seconds, then add the tomatoes. Stir to combine and season with sea salt and black pepper to taste. Reduce the heat to low and simmer together for 15-20 minutes.
Add the basil and oregano and simmer for an additional 5 minutes.
Serve over zucchini noodles (pictured) and drizzle with extra virgin olive oil for added flavor and richness.

serving suggestions:

pour over steamed or lightly sautéed zucchini squash noodles (pictured) – I use this spiralizer tool to make mine
top zucchini noodles and sauce with grilled chicken or meatballs
mix some of the sauce into ground meat to make a meat loaf

Yes, you can enjoy this recipe while on The 21-Day Sugar Detox.

If you like this, you may also enjoy my Spaghetti Squash Bolognese recipe.

I recorded a video while I was making this recipe last night, click here to watch the video!

Here are some other fantastic recipes for pasta replacements when you’re on a gluten-free, grain-free, Paleo or Primal type of diet from a few of my favorite bloggers:

From The Food Lovers Primal Palate: 

Pad Thai with Chicken

Spaghetti with Red Wine Sauce

Lamb Meatballs with Mint Pesto

Zucchini Lasagna

From Against All Grain:

Creamy pesto “pasta” with spring vegetables

From Nom Nom Paleo:

Stir-fried Kelp Noodles with Beef & Broccoli

Zucchini Spaghetti Zoodles & Meatballs

From Grass Fed Girl:

Paleo Chicken Alfredo with Kelp Noodles

Paleo Chicken Parmesean

From PaleOMG:

Chicken Coconut Curry Noodle Bowl

From Civilized Caveman Cooking:

Lemon Cucumber Noodles with Cumin

Note: I earn a small commission if you use the links in this post to purchase the products mentioned. I only recommend products I would use myself or that I recommend for clients in my practice or at workshops. Your purchase helps support my work in bringing you real information about nutrition and health.

“Beyond Bacon” – a video and a giveaway!

Leave it to me to get an amazing book all about how to respect the “whole hog” and then to attempt to bake – not to cook a tasty pork chop or other cut of the pig. The thing is, I didn’t have any pork in my house when the book arrived. And I really wanted to make the biscotti recipe.

Scratch that. I really wanted my dad to make the biscotti recipe. After all, he was The Biscotti King for at least a decade in the Sanfilippo house – but that’s back when we all ate gluten. Fast forward many years and there’s been no biscotti to speak of, a very sad state indeed. But, it turns out that my (retired, mind you) dad actually had a lot to do this past weekend.

So I was left to my own devices to make this recipe: Salted Mocha Biscotti.

Click to watch my “Beyond Bacon” video on YouTube to see how I did. Trust me, you want to watch the video… until the end. You’ll get a good laugh! Despite my kitchen mishap, the biscotti was delicious!

Beyond Bacon: Paleo Recipes that Respect the Whole Hog is great for way more than a biscotti recipe, though, if that’s the only reason you get it, you won’t be disappointed. 

Here’s what you’ll find in the book:

Perfect Pork Chops, better than most restaurant steaks
Pho Soup with chitterling “noodles” and other healing and delicious soups and stews to stretch your dollar
the already-famous Savory Bacon Jam fantastic with green apples or our Homestyle Biscuits
sweet treats made luxuriously rich with lard, such as Grain-Free Pie Crust, Salted Mocha Biscotti, Chocolate Fudge, and Maple Lard Scones
instructions on how to properly BBQ and smoke your meats as well as recipes to make your own sauces
instructions for curing your own bacon, pancetta and even home-made sausage better than store bought
details on how to properly fry foods, like Corn Dogs with Potato Crisps and Sweet & Sour Pork, and
an extensive guide on how to make and cook with nutrient dense essentials: pork stock and CLA-rich lard.

So many of you ask me about the healthfulness of pork products, as well as what to do with every part of the animal when you get a meat share – this book will answer all of those questions and more!

Beyond Bacon: Paleo Recipes that Respect the Whole Hog is available for pre-order now from Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble online, and will be shipped and in book stores locally on July 2!

TO ENTER THE GIVEAWAY FOR A COPY OF “Beyond Bacon: Paleo Recipes that Respect the Whole Hog”:

Comment below on this blog post and tell us how you’re looking forward to using this book. Your comment must have an email address associated with it when you enter, otherwise we won’t be able to notify you for the prize.

NOTE: Only one comment per person will count as an entry. Posting more than one comment will disqualify you from the contest, so please just post once! Thanks!! 

That’s it! No purchase necessary.

Note: This contest will be open for entries through 5pm Eastern time on Monday June 24th and one winner will be selected using random.org and emailed and announced here on the blog. If you do not reply to the winning announcement email to claim your prize within 48 hours of the announcement, a new winner will be selected in your place.

“The 30 Day Guide to Paleo Cooking” – a video and a giveaway!

If you’ve been waiting for a Paleo cookbook to release that includes only the most practical, approachable, and easy weeknight go-to dishes — your wait is over!

Hayley Mason & Bill Staley have just released their third book, The 30 Day Guide to Paleo Cooking.

In this book, you’ll find:

75 brand new recipes.
24 bonus “express eats” ideas for cooking beyond the book.
30 day meal plan for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Weekly shopping lists to streamline meal planning.
Meal building 101.
How to shop for the best ingredients.
FAQ’s and the science behind the Paleo diet.

I know you all have loved and appreciated my approach to recipe creation in Practical Paleo – easy-to-find ingredients, simple instructions, and delicious flavors. If you have been looking for more, more, more – this book will not let you down!

I gave a copy of The 30 Day Guide to Paleo Cooking to my intern, Jackie, to take home and make a recipe over the weekend. Then I made a quick video to show you guys what she (ahem, her mom) made. 

Insider information: 

As a good friend of The Food Lovers’, I have to let you all know this: I tasted a lot of these recipes! While the pair were working on their other new release, Gather, on-location in others’ homes for several months, the recipes for The 30 Day Guide to Paleo Cooking were created on weeknights in their own home. Lucky me, I was there to try probably close to 20 of these recipes – and they are exactly the kind of food that we all eat regularly. We make the joke all the time when we eat this way that “This is how we really eat.” So, now you all know!

The 30 Day Guide to Paleo Cooking is available now from Amazon.com, in all Costco stores in the US and Canada, Barnes & Noble.com and in book stores locally!

And… if you do order the book online, Bill & Hayley will send you some of the recipes immediately so you don’t have to wait!

TO ENTER THE GIVEAWAY FOR A SIGNED COPY OF HAYLEY & BILL’S NEW BOOK, “The 30 Day Guide to Paleo Cooking”:

Comment below on this blog post and tell us how you’re looking forward to using this book. Your comment must have an email address associated with it when you enter, otherwise we won’t be able to notify you for the prize.

NOTE: Only one comment per person will count as an entry. Posting more than one comment will disqualify you from the contest, so please just post once! Thanks!! 

That’s it! No purchase necessary.

Note: This contest will be open for entries through 5pm Eastern time on Monday June 17th and one winner will be selected using random.org and emailed and announced here on the blog. If you do not reply to the winning announcement email to claim your prize within 48 hours of the announcement, a new winner will be selected in your place.

Easy Recipe: Fresh Blueberry Crumble

fresh blueberry crumble

grain-free • gluten-free • dairy-free • sugar-free • sweetener-free • nightshade-free

When you’re looking for a quick and easy dessert, baking fruit with a nutty topping is probably the easiest thing you can do.

PREP TIME: 15 minutes

COOKING TIME: 30-40 minutes

YIELD: 8 servings

ingredients

2 pints of fresh blueberries (use 4 green apples, sliced, for the 21DSD)
Juice of 1 lemon
1 cup almond meal/almond flour
1/4 cup chopped macadamia or walnuts
1/4 cup melted butter (or coconut oil for dairy-free)
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
2 pinches of sea salt

preparation

Preheat oven to 375F.
Place the blueberries in a 9 inch x 9 inch baking dish, and squeeze the juice from half of the lemon over them. Toss slightly to coat the blueberries with the juice.
In a mixing bowl, combine the almond meal or flour, macadamia nuts, melted butter, remaining lemon juice, maple syrup, cinnamon, and salt.
Spread the nut topping evenly over the blueberries, and bake until the fruit is well cooked/bubbly and the topping is golden brown (approximately 30-40 minutes).

change it up!

Use green apples to make this for The 21-Day Sugar Detox.

 

Looking for more similar recipes from other awesome bloggers?

Check these out!

Against All Grain – Stovetop to Oven Skillet Cobbler

The Food Lovers Kitchen - Strawberry Tartlets

PaleOMG – Strawberry Rhubarb Mini Pies

 

FAQs: Is protein powder okay on a Paleo diet?

The short answer: protein powders aren’t food.
And by now you know how I feel about the fact that we should be chewing and eating food.

But sometimes, there are exceptions to even my own “rules.” So, I’ll bend just a little here.

Some folks may be “qualified” to consume protein in a non-food/powdered form.

1. Those interested in mass-gain or who are hard-charging athletes.

If you’re looking to gain muscle mass, or you’re a hard-charging athlete who needs extra fuel beyond real meals to maintain your current level of muscle mass and performance, liquid food – protein powders can be useful.

If you find that your recovery after exercise is sluggish despite eating great meals rich in protein and quality carb sources, then a quality protein powder may be a good idea post-workout. 

I repeat, consider powder only if you’ve already adjusted your post-workout food to an appropriate balance that includes dense carb sources.

Note: If you haven’t first considered all elements of appropriate mass-gain (including sleep, proper digestive function, and the fact that you should already eating a ton of real food) those need to be primary in your approach. If your sleep and digestion are a problem, protein shakes are not a solution. For many, protein powders may even aggravate digestion even further. 

If you’re on a mass-gain mission, sleeping well, digesting well, and are chowing down as much food as you can but still need to get some more calories and protein in your system, some powdered food might be okay for you.

The best types of protein powder are either 100% egg white or non-denatured whey protein from a grass-fed source. Check out some links below.

When you mix a non-denatured whey protein powder into your shakes, use a shaker bottle with a mixer ball and manually blend it or add it at the very end and pulse it just a few times in the blender so that you don’t then denature the protein. That said, these are isolated nutrients and should be viewed as supplementation sources, not food replacements. If you are capable of eating food, you should eat food.

2. Those who have diminished capacity to chew and swallow food.

Protein powder supplementation can be useful for those with diminished capacity to chew and swallow like the elderly or someone suffering from dysphagia (inability to swallow), or a very young child who is struggling to consume enough calories. These folks may benefit from including a high quality protein powder into otherwise clean-ingredient shakes.

Some ingredients that are great to add to 100% grass-fed whey protein powder or 100% egg white protein powder include:

organic coconut milk
coconut water (no sugar added)
fresh or frozen fruit – bananas, berries, mango, pineapple
egg yolks – from organic pastured eggs only (for calories and fat, not ideal for athletes post-workout refueling but may be helpful for pre-workout or adding calories for adding mass)
organic almond butter or other nut butter (for calories and fat, not ideal for athletes post-workout refueling but may be helpful for pre-workout or adding calories for adding mass)

Some options if you discover that you “qualify” to consume protein powder:

Raw Organic Whey

from 100% grass-fed cow’s milk

The Organic Whey

from 100% grass-fed cow’s milk

If you are intolerant to whey, a 100% egg white protein may be okay, but the quality of the eggs from which this is made puts it in the category, in my opinion, of a lesser quality food choice.

NowFoods Egg White Protein

100% egg white protein, unflavored

GEO Organic Egg White Protein

100% egg white protein, unflavored

I also love Great Lakes Gelatin as a supplemental food source for recovery and general health. It isn’t an isolated protein powder and, in my opinion, is great for anyone to add to their diet and even post-workout plan.

Great Lakes Gelatin Green Label  (dissolves in water, can be added to smoothies or other powders that are shaken) 

Great Lakes Gelatin Orange Label (makes gelatin you can eat like “jigglers”).

Check out this recipe from The Food Lovers.

Do you use protein powder supplementation?
If so, why? If not, why not?
What brands have you found with the cleanest, most paleo-friendly ingredients out there?

Podcast Episode #90: Paleo Pitfalls – part 2

Remember – If you’re enjoying these podcasts, please leave us a review in iTunes. Thanks!

Topics:

1. Sugar, treats, and keeping your goals in mind – plus a quick note on vegan “meats” vs paleo treats

2. Overdosing on nuts! Nut flours, dried fruit.

3. Bacon, all the time. MOAR BACON.

4. Paleo Perfectionism

5. Living a DIET not a lifestyle – and what the lifestyle is, is a conscientious path of learning and moving towards health in a way that accounts for other aspects of health – stress relief, and DIGESTION  

Click here to download this episode as an MP3.

The episodes are currently available in iTunes, Stitcher & Blog Talk Radio.

Complete podcast transcript will be available by 6/13/13. 

Click here to submit questions.

Cheers!

Diane & Liz

Podcast Episode #89: Guest Jonathan Bailor of “The Smarter Science of Slim”

Remember – If you’re enjoying these podcasts, please leave us a review in iTunes. Thanks!

This week the dynamic Jonathan Bailor of The Smarter Science of Slim www.thesmarterscienceofslim.com and Slim is Simple >  www.slimissimple.org stopped by to chat with Diane.

We talked about some common nutrition myths, why some folks are naturally slim easily while others aren’t, how long it might take to “fix” a damaged metabolism, and more. We even talked about how much food Jonathan was able to eat some nights on the Low Carb Cruise!

Click here to download this episode as an MP3.

The episodes are currently available in iTunes, Stitcher & Blog Talk Radio.

Complete transcript coming soon!

Click here to submit questions.

Cheers!

Diane & Liz

Practical Paleo Testimonial: Former vegan finds health

Let me introduce myself. My name is Dolores. I’m a 35 year old female that lives outside of Dallas with my furbaby (pictured) and my boyfriend (not pictured). I look pretty content in my picture, right? Well, there was a time I was nowhere near the level of contentment I am today. Let me take you back to PPP (Pre Practical Paleo)…

I come from a family with health issues: high cholesterol, type-2 diabetes, high blood pressure, heart palpitations… you name it.

I didn’t want to go down that road. So, when at 31 my doctor told me that my cholesterol of 248 was too high and had to go on meds to lower, I decided I needed a change.

Enter the whole grain, low fat vegan movement…they seemed to be saying all of the right things. So, I soaked my own beans and cooked my grains from scratch. I even made my own homemade seitan (meat substitute made from vital wheat gluten). I abstained from all meat, dairy, and dietary fat with the exception of some nuts or olive oil spray.

I did this for over 3 years.

Sounds healthy, right?

Well, with each passing blood work I had with my doctor, my cholesterol not only increased, but my triglycerides eventually were triple the recommended high, my HDL went down, my LDL went up, and my vitamin D was nonexistent.

Acid reflux came on daily and nightly; sleep was not possible without prescription medication; and I was exhausted ALL the time. When I state all the time, I mean I could not function without a triple shot large soy latte in the morning, another in the afternoon, and an energy drink to help me stay awake for my drive home from work!

Upon arrival to the house, I would crash and sleep until dinner. Doctors continued to push statins for my cholesterol , prescription vitamin D to get my levels up, anti-depressants for energy, and to take double the max dose of Nexium for my acid reflux (because that all sounds safe, right?). I heard how harmful statins can be for you. So, I refused to take those, but opted to attempt to “clean” my vegan diet more. Eventually, I caved and starting taking the vitamin D script, the anti-depressants, along with double dose the Nexium.

Did I get better? Nope.

My energy was still rock bottom, but the anti-depressants gave me some really fun side effects (excessive sweating, anyone?). Plus, my hunger never seemed to cease.  I was constantly hungry, and it didn’t matter if I finished a meal minutes prior.  Eventually, my “clean vegan diet” gave me a cholesterol number of almost 300, and my vitamin D continued to drop.  I was at my wits end and gaining weight to boot.  This is how your 30’s are supposed to be?

Picture it… Costco… Sunday afternoon… my boyfriend and I were doing our regular Costco stock up shopping.

We decide to browse the book section to see what all was available. My boyfriend was the first to notice this very colorful cookbook that stood out called Practical Paleo. I had never heard of Paleo before, and I was immediately intrigued.

I saw that there were a lot of recipes, and I saw there was A LOT of information about health and diet’s role in your body.  This was more than your average cookbook.

When I flipped to the “Poop Pageant” and digestion section, I was sold.

When I got home, I opened the book and read and read and read. When I was done, I started from the beginning again.  This was so unlike anything I’ve ever heard, and I wanted to make sure I was reading everything correctly.

Pastured meats, coconut oil, and butter to help your health? Abstain from all grains, especially gluten? Fat is good?
This goes against everything that the FDA and the vegan police have been telling me all these years.

From there I went to the Balanced Bites website and read up on the blog posts, and I even bought The 21-Day Sugar Detox and read that as well. After my full day (and night) of research, I absorbed everything about this Paleo diet that I could and felt I had a solid understanding.

I was worried that it would be hard, but I figured at this point I had nothing to lose.

So, my boyfriend and I decided that we would give this a shot. I decided that in December of 2012, I was going to go full Paleo for 30 days. I would follow the principles and meal plan of Practical Paleo and even some of 21DSD for a full 30 days and then get my blood work retested to see where it was.

Why December, you ask? Well, if I could stand the hardest month of the year being Paleo with all the temptations of cookies, parties, etc., then this could be a sustainable lifestyle change.  I didn’t want a quick fix; I wanted to be on the healthy path once and for all.

To prepare, we bought all sorts of local pastured beef, chicken, pork, and even eggs (Eggs, how I missed you!). I saved the pastured bacon fat and used it to cook with, made bone broth, and drank kombucha. Heck, I even took her recommended supplements like FCLO/BO blend in lieu of my prescription vitamin D!  Slowly, I found myself more and more confident with preparing the recipes in the meal plans to the point of where I was actually looking forward to cooking again.

I noticed a lot of changes those first 30 days.

My stomach seemed to lose bloat; I no longer needed my acid reflux medication; I could fall asleep and stay asleep without sleep meds; and I had energy throughout the day without the use of coffee or energy drinks. Also, my anti-depressants were no longer needed.  I even lost weight! Life was starting to feel good to me again, like the sun coming out after a storm.

The key would be my blood work.

This is what I’m basing this all on, right?

In 30 days, my cholesterol lowered from around 300 back to 250, triglycerides were perfect, vitamin D levels were normal, LDL lowered, HDL raised, my blood pressure was perfect, and I could go hours between meals without snacking.

I was eating real butter, whole eggs, pastured bacon, grassfed meats, vegetables, avocados, etc. every day – basically everything Diane states to do in Practical Paleo – and I was getting, dare I say it, healthy!

I feel like a new person, like a veil has been lifted from my eyes.

Practical Paleo has changed our lives for the better and opened us up to a new way of living and eating.  We are living proof that this is a practical lifestyle that one’s health can benefit from immensely.  We believe it so much that we’ve even bought copies for multiple family members and friends.

We continue this lifestyle to this day, and I continue to learn more through the Balanced Bites podcast and website.  While I am still on my journey to healing the damage left behind from my vegan diet, I now see the light at the end of the tunnel.  I am on my way to being the healthier and more confident version of myself.  For that, I thank Practical Paleo and Balanced Bites.

Podcast Episode #88: Guest Danielle Walker of “Against All Grain”

Remember – If you’re enjoying these podcasts, please leave us a review in iTunes. Thanks!

Having battled ulcerative colitis, an autoimmune disease, the modern-medicine way for many years, Danielle Walker took matters into her own hands and set out to regain her health through the medicine of food. She runs the popular grain-free recipe blog Against All Grain and has a cookbook by the same name hitting shelves July 30th.

Links mentioned:

Danielle’s website and book.

Specific Carbohydrate Diet - book Breaking the Vicious Cycle

Topics:

Danielle’s battle with ulcerative colitis and playing detective with her own food sensitivities.
Managing flare ups.
What Danielle eats now to keep herself healthy.
How Danielle feeds her son, Asher.
Danielle’s take on grain-free treats.
Egg substitues.
Paleo foods Danielle avoids with her UC.
Quick & easy meal ideas when busy/on-the-go
Her new book, “Against All Grain,” due out this summer!

Click here to download this episode as an MP3.

The episodes are currently available in iTunes, Stitcher & Blog Talk Radio.

Complete transcript coming soon!

Click here to submit questions.

Cheers!

Diane & Liz

Easy Recipe: Hot & Sweet Ginger-Garlic Chicken

This recipe is a great choice to enjoy while on The 21-Day Sugar Detox. 

hot & sweet ginger-garlic chicken

grain-free • gluten-free • dairy-free • nightshade-free* • sugar-free • sweetener-free • 21DSD

PREP TIME: 5 minutes

COOKING TIME: 30-35 minutes

YIELD: 3 servings

NUTRITION INFO: coming soon!

ingredients:

1 tablespoon ghee or coconut oil
sea salt & black pepper to taste
6 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs (or other cut, cooking time will vary)
1 small onion, finely sliced
2 cloves of garlic, minced or grated
1/2 teaspoon ginger powder or fresh ginger
1 teaspoon white sesame seeds
1-2 pinches chili flakes (*omit for nightshade-free)
1/4 cup coconut aminos (available at most Whole Foods Markets or local organic grocers/co-ops for around $5-7/bottle)

preparation:

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
In an oven safe cast iron or stainless steel skillet, melt the ghee, then season both sides of the chicken with sea salt and black pepper, and place skin side down into the pan for 5-6 minutes or until the skin browns and releases easily from the pan.
While the chicken cooks, combine the onion, garlic, ginger, sesame seeds, chili flakes, coconut aminos and more sea salt and black pepper in a small mixing bowl.
Flip the chicken thighs over so that they are now skin side up in the pan, then pour the sauce mixture over the chicken evenly and place the pan into the oven for 30 minutes or until the internal temperature of the chicken reaches 165 degrees.

Yes, you can enjoy this recipe while on The 21-Day Sugar Detox.

PS – Don’t miss out on the SexyBack Summit videos while they’re free!

Note: I earn a small commission if you use the links in this post to purchase the products mentioned. I only recommend products I would use myself or that I recommend for clients in my practice or at workshops. Your purchase helps support my work in bringing you real information about nutrition and health.