Paleo Moroccan Inspired Meatballs

May 17, 2013 By Leave a Comment
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Today’s recipe is a guest post from Roxanne Camden of What’s for Dinner Mom?  Be sure to check out her site for more delicious recipes!

Whenever my hubby travels to some new country, I like to read up on the “food culture” of that country. He spent last week in London with a side trip to Rabat, Morocco. I promptly began googling Moroccan foods and recipes and most of what I read sounded delish.
 
While he was gone, the kiddos and I made a trip to Barnes and Nobles for some new reading material. While the kids were doing their thing, I was happily browsing the cookbooks and came across a new Paleo cook book titled Well Fed. This book was going home with me… the recipes sounded amazing and the pictures… oh so drool worthy.
 
Chris came home and  raved about the food which meant I needed to head to the kitchen and cook all things Moroccan :)
 
Fast forward to me actually having a few quiet moments to look through my newest cook book…and what do I find? A recipe for Moroccan meatballs. Funny how things always seem to happen for a reason. Chris travels to Morocco, I research Moroccan food culture, hubby comes home raving about the darn food and now my latest cook book has a recipe for Moroccan meatballs… fate it seems wants me to feed my family a Moroccan inspired meal!
 
Using the meatball recipe in Well Fed as my inspiration, I created my own version.
 
To keep it Paleo, serve with mashed sweet potatoes, cauliflower rice or a yummy salad. For my non-paleo peeps, serve atop a fluffy bed of mashed potatoes or basmati rice.
 
For The Meatballs 
  • 1 lb ground veal
  • 1 lb ground beef
  • 1 egg
  • 2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
  • 1 tbsp paprika (sweet not hot style)
  • 2 tsp ground cumin
  • 1 tsp ground coriander
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • 1/2 tsp onion powder
  • 1 tsp kosher salt
  • 1/2 tsp freshly cracked pepper
  • 2 tbsp tomato paste (save remaining paste for sauce)
  • Ccoconut oil
For The Sauce
  • 1 small onion, diced
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 tsp paprika
  • 2 tsp cumin
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 tsp turmeric
  • 1 tsp kosher salt
  • 1/2 tsp freshly cracked pepper
  • 1 28 oz can diced tomatoes (I use Glen Muir)
  • Reserved can of tomato paste
  • 1/2 cup water
In a large bowl, combine meatball ingredients and gently mix with your hands to thoroughly combine. Using a melon ballet or small spoon, scoop about one tablespoon of meatball mixture and shape with your hands into balls.
 
In a large skillet heat 2 tbsp coconut oil over medium heat. Sauté meatballs  (working in batches)  until well browned. Remove meatballs to a plate and keep warm.
 
Once all meatballs have been cooked, add  1 tablespoon coconut oil to pan. Add onions and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook another 2 minutes. Add spices to pan and stir. Next add diced tomatoes, tomato paste and water. Stir to blend. Reduce heat to simmer and cover skillet. Simmer 45 minutes and then remove lid and simmer an additional 15-20 minutes or until sauce reaches desired thickness
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Amazing Paleo Success Story from The Ancestral Body

May 16, 2013 By Leave a Comment
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Today’s post is a success story from Charby of The Ancestral Body.

Sport has been a huge part of my life ever since I was a kid. However, it didn’t take me long to score the nickname “Chubbsi” on and off the field. Yes, I was a chubby lad to say the least. This trend continued into my teens and well into my twenties despite my numerous attempts at fad-diets, unhealthy eating plans, starvation, and exhausting exercise regimes.

It all came to a head one afternoon at the age of 25; I experienced acute chest pains. My GP was quick to order a series of blood tests. My liver, kidney, thyroid, blood pressure, blood sugar, and cholesterol results were dangerously out of whack; results that resembled a man two or three times my age, and in very poor health.

The same GP, and two others, were quite keen to put me on blood pressure and cholesterol lowering medications. Absolutely NO frickin’ way!

At 175cm and weighing in at a hefty 95kgs, I decided that enough was enough. I was told in no uncertain terms that I was quickly following in my father’s footsteps. Dad had his first heart attack at age 44, and his second at the age of 59. I was grateful for the wake-up call, but not for the nutritional misinformation that followed.

I adhered to conventional wisdom for three years; adhered to the “healthy” food pyramid and exercised compulsively most days. I only succeeded in gaining more weight, feeling hungry all the time, and exhausting my adrenal glands further.

Today, at 30 years of age, weighing in at 69kg, I feel that I have something important to share; a way of living, eating, and moving that will sustain me for the rest of my life… and by the way, I’m not hungry anymore. There were some less obvious changes too that I began to notice over time; I’ve stopped snoring, my anxiety has lifted, my skin is clear, I am confident, my libido has skyrocketed, I feel loads faster on the sporting field, AND I’M HAPPY!

This has had such a profound impact on my life that I decided to follow my passion. I am now a Nutritional Health Coach and Personal Trainer over at The Ancestral Body.

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The Importance of Being Barefoot and What to Wear if You Can’t

May 15, 2013 By 3 Comments
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Today’s post is a guest column from Mark Gladman, an ultra-distance barefoot/minimalist runner who lives on the Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia!

Average Westerners wear shoes from not long after they have learned to walk. A considerable amount of their day is spent in shoes of some kind. These are usually ill fitting (as comfortable as they seem), and make our foot do things that it was never meant to do. This means that when you take your shoe off, what is supposed to be the most natural thing – walking or running barefoot – has become very unnatural.

So it is no surprise that people who get the barefoot bug quite often get injured. It’s got little to do with being barefoot per se, but has plenty to do with trying to do something barefoot that the foot, having been shod for most of its natural life, needs to remember and relearn how to do. For example, almost every shoe has a raised heel. Over time, our Achilles tendon can shorten which means going barefoot and doing even mild activity like shopping can be quite painful for some. Many footwear stores in coastal holiday areas see this all the time as people – especially women – throw off the heels for the flip flops only to find their shortened Achilles screaming for relief after a short time!

In looking to develop barefoot we need to strengthen these muscles and stretch these tendons out again before we can do what it was originally meant to do! While there are a number of various ways people suggest one transitions to barefoot running, I think one of the best ways to strengthen the feet is simply to go barefoot when you can in everyday life. Spending time sans shoes encourages the muscles in the foot to strengthen and tendons to resume their natural state without the strain of running straight away. Going bare a little each day and increasing the amount of time allows for a gradual building of these muscles.

The big problem with this is when you want to increase your time barefoot but need to operate in the real world. So here are my tips on how to develop a barefoot lifestyle that will help build your feet up for barefoot running. Who knows, you may even discover, like I did, a totally “barefoot” life…?

AT HOME: Maybe I have led a sheltered life, but I am astonished at the number of people who wear shoes at home all day even if they aren’t going anywhere! Do yourself a favor and take your shoes off at home!! Making home a “NO SHOE ZONE” is a great start. This includes outside! In fact, spending a little bit of time each day walking on various surfaces barefoot – tiles, carpet, concrete, grass, gravel paths etc. – is a great way to begin waking up the 72,000 or so nerve endings in your feet that have lost their feeling from being hidden away for so long.

AT PLAY: Once your feet have become accustomed to being bare more often than not, you might begin to look at places where you can venture out. As I mentioned last time, there are not – as is commonly thought – infected syringe needles and mountains of broken glass everywhere we go. (You should see the looks I get when I tell people that when I visited New York, I ran Central Park barefoot!)

Use your common sense about this. Look for places where you can go to do some short walks and light activity barefoot. Throw a ball in the park with the kids barefoot. Picnic barefoot. Walk the dog around the neighborhood barefoot. Walk down the beach barefoot. Wash the car barefoot. I think you get the idea. There will be places you can’t go barefoot, but you should be able to find enough places to go and things to do sans shoes.

AT WORK: Here is where it gets tricky. Most places of work probably aren’t barefoot friendly – at least to start with. If you wear a suit like me, how do you go barefoot? Well, you may not be able to go everywhere bare, but there are some options. Can you remove your shoes in your cubicle or office? If you stand behind a counter most of the day, can you wear a slip on/off shoe that you can slide off while you stand there? When you sit behind your desk, can you take off your shoes and have a golf ball, tennis ball etc. under your desk you can roll under your feet? There are even under desk mats that have different surfaces (rocks, gravel etc.) built into them that you can move your feet over.

There will be times though when barefoot is just not possible or allowed. So what to do? Well here is where minimalist shoes can come to the rescue. Let me be clear – I’m not talking a shoe that has a thick sole with a zero drop. For our purposes here what I am suggesting is something that will offer an as-close-to-barefoot feel but won’t get you kicked out of your favourite café or headed to the unemployment queue! Let’s put it this way – in all of the options I wear listed below, I can feel the gaps between pavers and concrete as I walk. What you’re looking for is no heel-to-toe drop, thin flexible sole and flat anatomical shape with a roomy toe box.

For work, I wear a suit and so for me leather Vivobarefoot Ra is underfoot. They have a 4mm puncture resistant sole, no raised heel and come in black, brown and red brown. Because they have an anatomical shape to allow for natural toe splay, some complain they look like clown shoes. Maybe they don’t on me because I have small feet! There are other style options from Vivobarefoot that might suit other types of work places. Check other minimalist brands about what they have to offer. I am also excited about the highly anticipated Primal Professional Shoes which I hope to review for you in an upcoming post. Most people in most occupations should be able to find something that would pass at their place of work.

For play, I wear Xero Shoes. Xero are the creation of Steven Sashen and Lena Phoenix who have developed a great product based on a huarache sandal. For what is essentially a bit of rubber and a piece of string, but these things are amazing!! I have three pair: two of which I use for running (a 4mm and 6mm sole for road and trails respectively); and another one in their 4mm sole which I use for casual wear. I lace these in a slip on/slip off style that looks like a sandal. If I need closed shoes, my Ra with a pair of jeans works fine. If you need more of a trainer look, Altra Shoes Adam and Samson models (or Eve and Delilah for women) are also an option. In some scenarios moccasins might be suitable too, like RunaMoc’s.

In a future column, I will look at a full gamut of what’s available in minimal shoes. This is what works for me at the moment, but there are many options out there now so you are sure to find something that works for you both at work and casually to mimic a barefoot feel. What is wonderful though is that I now literally live the feeling of being barefoot all day every day. This means that being “barefoot” for life, not just for running, is doable in the modern world every day for a holistic Paleo lifestyle.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Barefoot Running, Minimalist RunningMark Gladman is a barefoot/minimalist runner who loves ultra distances.

He has been running barefoot/minimalist since 2006 and made the switch to living barefoot/minimalist in late 2011. He also likes the idea of a Paleo lifestyle as applying to many facets of modern life and thinking, not just food. Mark lives with his wife and two children on the Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia.

 

Filed Under: Guest Posts, Living, Paleo Products Tagged With: , ,

A Simple Way to Get Better and Healthier Sleep

May 14, 2013 By 3 Comments
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Today’s post is a guest column from Beverly Meyer, a Clinical and Holistic Nutritionist.  Check out her website, On Diet and Health, and her popular podcast, Primal Diet – Modern Health.

Want to live longer, have more energy, with your brain, hormones and immune system still working? Hmmm, let me think….  Yes!! I do!

One big key to longevity is great sleep. We do our repairs at night, and make hormones, enzymes and other supplies that we use up during the day. With poor sleep we will have digestive, hormone, immune, and energy problems. And we won’t make new cells to replace dead or aging ones.

Don’t feel like you “slept like a baby?” Maybe you need to turn the thermostat down a degree or two.

We need enough sleep (some say 6 to 8 hours, but I need 8 – 9).  We need to be asleep early (preferably before 10) as the gall bladder does some serious homework from 11 PM to 1 AM.  We need 5 hours of uninterrupted sleep for the adrenals to recharge.  (This is why disturbed-by-the-baby sleep makes us SOOO tired and stupid so quickly.  I think this is an Evolutionary Flaw, don’t you?)

So what’s this about COLD at night?

On planet Earth, darkness is the primary signal for sleep in Humans (it’s wake-up time for opossums and other nocturnals), but the change in temperature is another signal.  We have two big changes after sunset – it’s dark and it’s cool, right?

Lowering the thermostat helps trigger the hormonal and neurotransmitter signals for the sleep cycle. We cool down and we sleep better… Studies show that we sleep best at 60 – 70 degrees.  This may be because average night Earth temperatures range near 60.

I set my thermostat to drop an additional degree around 3 AM.  The house is getting stuffy around that time, and humidity can rise, bringing up the molds. Having cool dry air helps keep the humidity where dust mites and molds are not so happy.  Less allergens means better breathing and easier sleep.

Some people like warm baths in the evening to help them fall asleep. Our body temp drops after the bath, and this is a useful “it’s night and cooler now” signal.  Personally, I just set the thermostat.  And, my bedroom happens to be the coldest room in the house. Lucky me! (Note: your AC company can adjust airflow seasonally by making changes in your ducts and/or air vents).

If your bedroom is upstairs, you’re definitively fighting the laws of physics, as hot air WILL rise.  So keep your door shut and use an auxiliary AC if needed.  It will be much cheaper than running the whole house AC.

Warm covers (and even socks) are fine, but our heads and brains like the cooler air. The combo of an utterly dark bedroom and a nice cool dry environment will help us get to sleep and stay there.

One last PS….  Synthetic fibers in your bedding, mattress cover, pillow, etc. will make you clammy, and disturb the temperature regulation systems of the Hypothalamus.  Stick to all natural fibers such as cotton, bamboo, wool, and silk.  Get a 100% cotton mattress cover (including the filling – no poly!) to give you a breathable layer of air between you and your mattress. You’ll be surprised at the difference this can make.  I prefer latex for my mattress and pillow, as no dust mites grow in them and they are much less toxic than pressure-foam.

For more on healthy sleep, read this blog post. For help calming your brain, my two favorite supplements are here.  Here’s a 2011 Podcast on sleep and EFT (Emotional Freedom Techniques).

So CHILL OUT and get some rest. Do you have any other “chilling out” tips to share?  What else makes YOU sleep better?

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Beverly Meyer is a Clinical and Holistic Nutritionist who has been in practice for 25 years.

She also hosts the popular podcast “Primal Diet – Modern Health,” blogs at On Diet and Health, and has the only DVD on the Ancestral Diet, “The Diet for Human Beings.”

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Review Monday – OMG That’s Paleo?

May 13, 2013 By Leave a Comment
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OMG That's Paleo, PaleOMG, Paleo Recipes, Paleo Recipe Book

Want to add another great Paleo cookbook to your collection? Check out OMG That’s Paleo?

It might not be the manliest thing to say, but I’m happy to admit that I love to cook.  There’s just something about taking a bunch of healthy ingredients, throwing them together, and making your own delicious meals for me and my family that makes me happy.

So, to that end, I’m always searching for new Paleo recipes so that my wife and I – and my son once he works his way up to eating meals with us, though, it’s going to be a while - aren’t eating the same (sometimes boring) stuff over and over.

One of the places I get some of my recipes is from PaleOMG, run by Juli Bauer.  I have yet to make anything from her site that wasn’t absolutely awesome, so, needless to say, I was thrilled to see that she recently released her own cookbook called OMG That’s Paleo?, which has 100 incredible, completely not boring, Paleo recipes.

Here are the three (delicious) recipes that my wife and I have tried thus far in the two weeks I’ve had the book:

  • Thai Coconut Lim Shrip
  • Citrus Mango Spicy Tilapia and Kale
  • Peach and Basil Grilled Pork Chops (Exclusive to this book, but more on that in a minute.)

One of the things I enjoyed the most about this book is the fact that it sort of runs the gambit of ways to prepare Paleo foods (grilled, slow cooker, etc.) as well as types of Paleo recipes (soups, desserts, seafood, etc.), so it really does end up being a “one size fits all” recipe book.

What I also enjoyed is that Juli includes 30 recipes in OMG That’s Paleo? that aren’t currently on her blog, so you sort of feel like you’re getting some exclusive content!

So, even if you already have a Paleo cookbook or two at home, I would still recommend that you pick up a copy of OMG That’s Paleo?, largely for the 30 “exclusive” recipes.  However, if you’re new to Paleo eating and don’t have any Paleo cookbooks at home, I think OMG That’s Paleo? should be required “reading” in your house!

What are your thoughts on this?  Anyone purchase this book already?  Anyone already make recipes from Juli’s site?  Leave a comment below and share your thoughts with the community!

(Disclosure: I received a complementary copy of this book, however, I am under no obligation to write a review, much less a positive one.  The opinions expressed above are 100% my own. This post contains links to an affiliate program, for which I receive a few cents if you make purchases.  I am disclosing this in accordance with the FTC’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”)

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