Category Archives: Paleo

R3000 Challenge: What we’ve been eating…

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All you faithful readers – you’re keeping me going this month. There is so much accountability and interest in this 3k challenge, I’m so inspired. And whether we make it or not – lessons have already been learnt which have been so good for me.

For eg: Yesterday I popped into Checkers (a spare minute away from my kids) and I did a quick price check on some regular items. Some were more expensive, some were less. Saffas reading this, Checkers confuses me. Either way – I left with milk sachets, ginger, lemon (my winter drink of choice/necessity) and Bovril (for R39.90 the cheapest I’ve seen it). Total spent at Checkers R93.77.

Here are some tips and trick and what I’ve been eating:

I’ve fed my sweet tooth with the (massive) block of fondant that has been sitting in the freezer for over 2 years. I kid you not. It was taking up room, and with no spare budget for chocolate, ice cream, cookie dough etc. this was it. I’m glad to not have to relocate it after each new frozen food shop.


The boys have not had cracker bread this month. A quick simple snack – but at R21+ a box. Not this month. Also the juice boxes we spoke of? None of that either.

I’m limiting us to 1 big bulk bag of coffee beans and 1 tub of hot chocolate per month. That way we need to ration it all. Self control.

All in all, I’m much less impulsive in my shopping. Much less. We are not living on bread and butter (quite yet), but because I really don’t know what the end of the month will look like, I question my needs vs. wants.

This past Friday was Market Day at my Good Food Club. As I arrived to fetch my goodies, I saw this: a special. It is hard for me to refuse a special.

Yes friends, this is TOP quality Extra Virgin Olive Oil at such a good price. And I refused. Because it would’ve been too much for the budget. See my self control?

Saturday we scored huge. After a crazy busy morning with play dates and builders, we dropped everything (in my brother-in-law’s hands) to attended my cousins funeral. Hubby and I had barely eaten all day, so grabbed a handful of post-memorial snacks. Hungry again and on our way home, our brother and sister-in-law invited us to the Spur. We don’t frequent the Spur, but they had promised their kids a Spur treat and (super generously) offered money towards our bill. (How amazing!) My first thought was “for suuuure!” and my second was “oh wait, this is going to eat in the budget hard“. Pondering the situation we found ourselves in, hubby kept telling me to – quote – “tell your readers, we’ll take it from the Building Budget”. Pah, as if there is a building budget. 

So, because I feel so committed to you all and this challenge my conclusion, “right, it has to come out the 3k budget”. I was prepared to take the hit. Hospitality, remember? Long story short, our super generous family covered the whole bill, so Saturday was covered. Mahala.

Tips and tricks: find old sugary treats to keep you going and hint at family members to take you out.

WHAT WE’VE BEEN EATING:

Breakfast: Good ol’ fashion Jungle Oats, with a splash of milk and drizzle of honey. I have 3.5 kg’s of honey from my Good Food Club (paid for by this months budget). Brea has fancy yoghurt with some fruit and I usually have 7 cups of coffee. Or 1 cup, heated 7 times.

Lunch: My girlfriend and I joke about deconstructed meals.”I had a deconstructed fruit salad” she’ll say – when she means she had an apple, pear and orange, for eg. Ha. So I usually take a handful of paleo friendly goodies to work. First prize is always leftover dinner, otherwise I’ll grab some boiled eggs, butternut and avo, apple, carrot and cucumber sticks, cherry toms, banana etc.

Boys lunches: Always, a sandwich, cut up apple and cheery tomatoes. Their snacks are either raisins, dried mango (when on sale at my GFC), dates, sometimes nuts, boiled eggs, cut up cucumber, fruit etc. And water. All fresh. No prepackaged snacks.

Afternoon snack: Anything I can find in the fridge, tea (and fondant). Often fruit.

Dinner:

  • We’ve made 2 massive batches of soup and frozen them in jars (I buy glass jars from Bonpak).
  • We’ve had cheese, tomato and basil (home grown) toasted sarmies.
  • We’ve had chicken and cheese quesadillas with homemade salsa.
  • I cooked 500g of mince and added almost anything I could think of to beef if up (carrots, mushrooms, peppers, 2 cans tomatoes, and lots of lentils). I also divided the mince into jars and have frozen them for quick meals.
  • We’ve had cous cous with chicken (1 chicken breast), butternut, mint, feta and toasted almonds.
  • We’ve had chicken sausage (Elgin) on roasted sweet potato and rosemary chips.
  • Last night we had the pre-cooked frozen mince over sweet pot mash. Yum.

Soup recipes here: Sweet Pot & Bacon Soup and Roasted Butternut and Rosemary. 

Here was my initial meal plan idea – before this challenge was official. Friday night is movie night in our house so, hence the popcorn.

And as we stand, I’ve spent R1171.93 (EXCLUDING my Good Food Club food which should come in at around R1000ish). So I’m sitting on just under R2200.

How you doing? 🙂

Have I introduced you to the Lara Ball?

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If you’re in any Paleo/Whole30/Vegan circles, no doubt you’ve heard about the Lara Ball? And if not, well then, let me enlighten you.

This is quite simply one of my all time fave snacks for when you’re trying to be good (so you’re not spontaneously making fudge, or homemade custard to eat out of a mug, or tackling that tub of Haagen Dazs in your freezer – yup – been there). I hadn’t made them for a while and then when a group of girlfriends were keen on a month of paleo, I remembered my long lost friend and made some last night. And I’ve eaten about 24 in the last 8 hours.

So Lara Balls. So good, so sweet, so healthy, satisfying and ah, they just hit the spot when you need it most.

lara balls 2

WHAT YOU NEED: 

  • 1.5 cups Almonds (I know they’re expensive at the mo, but trust me)
  • 1.5 cups Dates (pitted, always pitted)
  • 3 or 4 tablespoons soft/melted Coconut Oil
  • 2 tablespoons Raw Organic Cacao Powder (optional)
  • However much you feel like adding Chia Seeds (optional)
  • Again, however much you feel like adding fresh Coffee Grounds (optional)

DIRECTIONS:

Easy as. You throw your almonds into a food processor and switch on FULL BLAST. It’s loud. Really loud. So switch it on and run out the room. Once it calms down and those nuts have been crushed into small cous cous-like prices, add your dates. Then your coconut oil and then the optional extras. And blend blend blend. (My hubby loves the coffee ones, I’m not such a fan, but cacao and chia seeds – YUM!)

Once everything is nicely mixed, grab them in your hand and squish them into balls and pop them in the fridge. If you find they’re too dry then add a touch more coconut oil so they hold firm when you make balls. On the flip side, if they’re too oily, no harm, you can simply use less oil the next time. And when I say ‘next time’, I mean the next day because you’ll probably finish them all today.

Enjoy xxx

Image credit: www.chocolatecoveredkatie.com

Carrot, Ginger and Orange Juice

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Both my kids are snotty. It’s that horrible fine (blurry) line between sending them to school with a bit of snot and the occasional cough (and pleading ignorance – come on parents, you all know what I’m talking about) and keeping them home (read: ex-haus-ting) and rearranging my work schedule.  Arghhhh…

I’m not a regular pill popper when it comes to my kids, but I’m also not Georg Von Trapp and do offer them meds should they need them. But my first port of call is always going natural. So yesterday we had a juice-making-marathon making carrot, ginger and orange juice. It is very cute when I add too much ginger and my 2 year old calls it ‘th-py-thy’ (spicy).

Recipe: Not a tough one guys – carrots, ginger and orange (skin peeled off!).

orange, ginger and carrot juice 2

Yesterday I also added some left over papaya and a tiny knob of pineapple (it was about to be tossed – one the best thing about a juicer is that you can use almost-off stuff and not be grossed out). If you need to sweeten it (reduce the th-py-thy-ness), apples can be added, and I had some half cut lemons that I tossed in too. I poured it in a mason jar and kept it in the fridge and the whole family had a health boost.

Take those remains and toss them in your compost or use them to make bokashi bran.

I also popped some of the juice into my Zoku-maker and made ‘ice creams’ for the kids. What a win. They are such innocent little beings, and so stoked to have ice creams as part of their dinner. Shame.

Keep warm, healthy and safe this winter.

Picture credit: www.createnourishlove.com

 

Easy-Peasy Homemade Chicken Stock

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When we first did Paleo (Whole30) back when I was pregnant with #2, we stuck to the rules military-style, and that included no chemicals in any-thing. So we had to make our own stock. What?

Making your own stock is awesome, super rewarding and easy-peasy. And it is delicious. In fact, after we learnt about it we stopped buying boneless, skinless chicken breasts so we had extra bones to use, and by doing so, saved some money at the same time (boneless meat is often more expensive).

So here’s how you do it:

Cook a roast chicken. This is my go-to recipe and I love love love it. It’s a throw-together rustic version of a roast chicken. Invite some friends over, and enjoy your dinner with some good wine and laughter. Pick as much meat off the carcass as you can, gobble it all up or save whatever you have left over for chicken mayo toasties, salad toppings etc.

Jamie Oliver Roast Chicken

Then take the carcass and pop it in a pot and pour about 3L-4L of water over it. Now you get creative… Was there a mushy lemon in the carcass cavity? Throw that in the water. Cut up a couple carrots, an onion or two, a couple sticks of celery, salt, pepper and some herbs (bay leaves, parsley, thyme etc.) from your garden. Basically any veggies (flavours) you have lying around, chuck them in.

Bring it to the boil for around 20min. Then (my favourite bit), pop it in your Wonderbag. Overnight. At end of cooking time, open bag, check temperature immediately to be certain stock measures 60° C/140° F or higher. Strain the liquid through a sieve and throw the veggie bits in your compost. For maximum flavor use the back of large spoon to press as much liquid as possible from meat, bones and veggies. Add additional salt and pepper to taste and pop your delicious flavoursome liquid it in the freezer. Done!

(If you don’t have a Wonderbag, you can let it simmer gently for around 30min. Check on it and then turn it down and let it cook on low for another hour or so – just don’t forget about it).

Chemical, MSG, nonsense-free stock. Yum.

Picture Credit: everydaygoodthinking.com

Homemade Kale Chips

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It doesn’t get much greener than kale chips.

Kale – that infamous leafy green which no one really knows what to do with, right? So back in the ‘Couve, friends used to grow kale and then make us crispy kale chips and OH STOP IT they were delicious. I’m not crazy. They really are delicious.

I’m pretty sure when I pull out massive bunches of unknown greens at home my dad inwardly shudders. And the bunch of kale I bought was huge, but he dared to try the chips and he even ENJOYED them. No lies. All you need is kale, ground salt and olive oil and you’re off and away…

These are seriously addictive! My mah-hoosive bunch of kale made 6 trays (!) of the stuff (which I cooked 2 trays at a time) and I’d almost finished 2 trays worth of the chips before the next 2 trays were cooked. Like I said. Addictive.

HOMEMADE KALE CHIPS (thanks to Kitchen Treaty)

Ingredients: kale, good quality ground salt and extra virgin olive oil.

How to: 

1. Wash your kale well, and pat it as dry as you can get it.

2. Pull the leaves apart from the stem (or cut it if you want to be dainty), and tear them (or cut them) into small pieces (we don’t need perfection, you can be rustic about it).

3. Put them in a large bowl and pour a little extra virgin olive oil over it, and toss gently but thoroughly so the leaves are all coated. (I had to laugh as Kitchen Treaty says ‘You don’t want to bruise the kale, but you want to make sure every single bit of every leaf gets coated‘. Ha ha ha)

4. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and lay the kale in a single layer on the sheet. Sprinkle with a bit of coarse salt.

5. Bake at 150 degrees C (300F) for 8-12 minutes. As soon as the kale is rigid and crisp, remove it from the oven. It’ll burn quickly. And if it isn’t yet crisp, keep baking, checking every couple of minutes until it is. It should literally crunch into bits in your mouth – not be chewy.

6. Wait a minute or two for it to cool and then crunch away. This is best eaten straight after cooking. You can store in an airtight container, but I highly recommend preparing it just before you plan to eat it as it doesn’t keep too well.

Bake-until-crispy

So easy and so delicious. Let me know what you think! I dare you to take it to your next get-together and see what your friends think (then go outside a hug a tree for pure entertainment value)…

Enjoy
xxx

Green ‘GET ME BACK TO HEALTH’ Kale Smoothie

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I’m stiiiiiill sick. Argh man, it’s been too long and I’m just not on top of it. So, after devouring half a slab of chocolate earlier in despair, I decided I needed to up my attitude and EAT my way back to health… (because who doesn’t love eating). Starting with greens.

So I dashed off to the shops and stocked up on EVERY fruit and veg known to mankind (okay, you know I’m exaggerating), but I loaded up (including a 5kg pocket of oranges) and came home ready to propel this bod back to health.

Since my kids love making smoothies/juicing, it’s a family affair. No extra energy needed (of which I currently have a limited supply).

Green ‘GET ME BACK TO HEALTH’ Kale Smoothie:

– 5 leaves of kale (de-stemmed)
– 2 apples (chopped)
– 1 small pineapple (chopped)
– 2 oranges (de-skinned. Bring on the Vit C)
– half a cucumber (peeled)
– cup of water (to get that blending going)
– half a tray of ice cubes (for the chilled effect)

Blend. Drink. Feel good.

Step 1 to health, done.

Absolutely Delicious Homemade Salsa

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One Christmas, our pastor’s wife gave us a jar of homemade salsa and it was absolutely delicious. So as soon as I had finished the jar I needed to find a recipe to make some more. So I did, and thanks to Two Peas and Their Pod Blog the deliciousness continued…

Here’s what you need: 

Ingredients:

1 can whole tomatoes with juice
1 can diced tomatoes with chilies and herbs (or something similar)
1/4 cup chopped onion
1 clove garlic, minced
1 whole jalapeño, sliced thin (more if you like it hot hot hot!!!)
1/4 teaspoon sugar (omit this if eating paleo)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 cup fresh coriander (or more to taste – I LOVE coriander)
1/2 whole lime, juiced (I usually add more lime, since I LOVE lime)

Directions:

In a large food processor or blender, combine whole tomatoes, tomatoes with chilies, onion, jalapeño, garlic, sugar, salt, cumin, lime juice, and coriander. Pulse until you get the salsa to the consistency you’d like. Taste and adjust seasonings, if necessary.

Refrigerate salsa for at least an hour.

You can eat this with tortilla style chips, or throw it over some nachos. We recently added it to delicious Mexican tortillas – with homemade spiced mince, tomatoes, lettuce, guacamole, cheese, sour cream and coriander. Yummmmm!!! You can add it to your burger or on your homemade pizza or on some crackers with cheese. It’s also a great Christmas gift if you’re doing the homemade Christmas gift thing.

restaurant-style-salsa3

Yum. It is also paleo approved (if using no sugar). I can eat this with a spoon, it’s that good.

Enjoy!

Coconut Oil, Coconut Oil Everywhere

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When I first embarked on this green life about 3 years ago, coconut oil popped up every-where. It’s like I couldn’t get away from the stuff – and for good reason.

1L oil

If you spend 7 seconds browsing Pinterest you’ll see literally thousands (if not hundreds of thousands) of posts about coconut oil, the benefits, the uses, the recipes, the health properties, and on and on it goes. It seems coconut oil really is one of the most versatile and healthy MUST-HAVES in your pantry, bathroom, bedroom, kids room, ANY-room.

You can read up more about their vast number of benefits and uses here and here. Below I’m highlighting three products in particular that I’ve found to fit into my day to day.

I have kids, am faaaaaairly addicted to sugar and love good skin. So, when Jenna from Coconut Connection, a local company, offered some product to try I grabbed the Baby Care, Organic Coconut Sugar and the Coconut Body Scrub.

Now, if you’re new to this, it’s good to know that coconut oil is an OIL. So it’s oily. Got it? I know a few people whose sensory vibes don’t dig the oil factor and so if that’s the case this might not be for you. But, as for the rest of you, let’s get greasy.

Oh wait, another thing. Coconut oil solidifies in cool temperatures, so, in colder climates it might need a slight warm up before use (like dipping the jar in warm water), and in hotter climates, if you don’t want to dip your fingers into runny oil, then keep it in a cool dry place, out of the sunlight.

Ready? Let’s go.

Coconut Connection’s Organic Baby Care:

Smothering my kidlets with coconut oil comes as NO surprise to me. From the very beginning, I ditched all the fancy branded creams (which had plenty of unknown ingredients) and went al-natural with the littlies using a single ingredient – Organic Coconut Oil. In fact when my second was born, his skin looked like it was almost cracking on his feet and hands and I lathered him up goooood and proper with the stuff. Within days, his skin was plump and juicy. And its a huge money saver as a little goes a very looooong way.

Uses: Can be used to treat baby acne, cradle cap, croup, nappy rash, ear infections, massage, bath oil and as a moisturiser.

Liven up your little ones bath time routine by running a warm bath, dim the lights, cuddle up your littlie in a towel, put on some relaxing music, drop some lavender essential oil in the diffuser and enjoy bonding time together involving some baby massage.


 Clayden skin 2

Coconut Connection’s Coconut Sugar:

I didn’t even know there was such a thing. Stevia, yes, Xylitol, yes… But coconut sugar?

Coconut sugar is made from the coconut flower, where the sap is removed and heated and you’re left with a sugary substance which leaves a caramelly aftertaste in your mouth. Whoooooaaaaaa, it is delicious. I can eat this stuff by the teaspoonful. In fact, if I’m honest, I do.

Compared to Xylitol, coconut sugar has a milder taste and flavour. When added to coffee, it knocks that bitter taste off, or adds a slight sweetness to tea. My rooibos addicted toddler loves coconut sugar in his morning tea and I way prefer using this than any other sweetener. Win.

Uses: you can use coconut sugar in many different sweet and savoury recipes. It is safe for diabetics and has a low GI of 35.

sugar

Coconut Connection’s Body Scrub:

I like things with as few ingredients as possible, and this scrub has 2. Coconut Oil and Sugar. So it’s a scrub, aaaand a dessert (almost).

Since my scrub had hardened, I warmed it up (you can pop the bottom of the jar in the bath) and gave it a stir to distribute the oil and sugar evenly (as the sugar had settled at the bottom of the jar). I quite like the oil-on-oil method of cleaning and so for me personally I like oil based scrubs. This scrub has a neutral smell and so if you don’t have a high sensitivity to essential oils, you could add a couple drops to your bath depending on what mood you’re in. Being oily, its quite nice to just give yourself a little neck massage while you’re at it. Well that’s what I do anyway.

Coconut Connection have a whole range of products, including coconut oil for cooking (or DIY-ing), toothpaste (similar to my homemade recipe), lip balm and much more.

What have you made recently that has coconut oil as a main ingredient?

The Yummiest Paleo Recipes EVER

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We have only one more day to go friends, and so I’ve rounded up my favorite Paleo recipes of all time. I find myself coming back to these again and again, even when intentionally eating Paleo is far from my mind…

Most of these recipes can be found on my Paleo Board on Pinterest. Pinterest is an amazing resource for Paleo recipes and inspiration. Included in this blog post are just a handful of the gazillions of recipes that are all amazingly delicious and easily found online. So make friends with Google and enter a world of deliciousness. I’m currently also re-reading Pete Evans‘ book Family Food.

Please try to make as MUCH of this as you can at home. Homemade is BEST. Cooking, baking and almond milk making gets your creative food juices going and is so healthy for the soul.

Michael Pollan says something along the lines of, ‘take as much time to prepare your food, as you do to eat it’. I like that quote. And I think he’s right.

RECIPES:

BREAKFAST: (I usually have fruit and nuts on weekdays and save the bacon and eggy kinda brekkie for the weekend).

– My all time fave is Paleo Granola. Basically 1 cup of each of the following: almonds, cashews, walnuts, pumpkin seeds, and coconut flakes. You can throw some linseed and sesame seed in if you like (maybe half a cup of each). Mix all the nuts/seeds in a large bowl (except coconut flakes) and mix in about 1/4 cup melted coconut oil. If you want, you can squeeze in the juice of an orange for a touch of sweetness. Spread it out over a baking dish (or two) and bake at a low temp (110 degrees) for about an hour, mixing once in-between. Toast the coconut flakes separately as they burn quickly! Add the coconut flakes to the rest of the granola and store in airtight container.

This is best served over cut up fruit (apples, oranges, pears, strawberries etc). Since this is oat-free and nut HEAVY, you really only need a couple tablespoons of granola over your fruit. This amount of nuts might seem expensive initially but it will last you a fair while since you don’t need that much – not nearly the amount you would usually use when eating granola (museli). Also, if you find the nuts too big, you can chop them roughly in the very beginning. 

– Classic bacon and eggs, with balsamic grilled cherry tomatoes, garlic fried mushrooms, creamy avo and sweet potato hash. YUM.

sweet pot hash

– Spinach Beef Frittata. (I sometimes make these in cupcake pans so you have portion sizes that are just right!) Make up your own combinations too.

SNACKS:

– Banana chips (homemade)
– Apple chips with cinnamon (homemade)
– Cherry tomatoes
– Cut up apple and almond butter
– Beet dip and cucumber and carrot sticks
– Boiled eggs with paleo mayo
– Yam fries and aioli (paleo mayo, garlic and lemon juice)
– Kale chips. I know it is not everyone’s cup of tea but I love them.
– Spice-free biltong
– aaaaaaaaaaaand… Lara Balls (throw 1 cup almonds, 1 cup pitted dates, 3 tablespoons melted coconut oil into a food processor and blend to smitherines. Grab handfulls and squish into balls. Keep them in the fridge and nibble as you need. You can add a tablespoon or so of organic cacao powder or ground coffee beans if you’re wanting to add extra flavour). Lara Balls were essential in both my previous Whole30’s.

sweet pot friesbeet humus

LUNCHES & DINNERS (I find these quite interchangeable):

Your alternatives to a carby base: cauliflower rice, sweet pot/ yam hash or mash, zucchini ribbons and broccoli and cauliflower florets. You can also make spaghetti squash – but I can’t find spaghetti squash in South Africa. Hmmph.

You absolutely have to make cauliflower rice and sweet potato hash/mash as your hearty meal bases (where you would have used noodles/rice/bread etc.) Omit the lime and coriander from the cauliflower rice recipe if you don’t like those flavours – but I find them super scrumptious. Also, zucchini ribbons (peeling a zucchini like you would a carrot) and broccoli florets or roasted cauliflower are very versatile as bases for a spaghetti type mince or juicy vegetable something-or-other.

cauliflower rice

Soups: (while you’re at it – make double and freeze extra portions so you have spare for the following week, or for an unpredictably busy day). 

– I cannot get enough of this Roasted Butternut Soup. I can now make it with my eyes closed.
– Curried Cauliflower Soup (I buy cauliflower like its nobody’s business).
– Sweet Potato and Bacon Soup (with Ras el Hanout – take the time to make this – it’s easy and so worth it).
– Basil and Tomato Soup (with basil from your garden, obviously).

roasted butternut soup

Salads: (Rule of thumb for salads in general: include 1 green, 1 fruit or vegetable and 1 nut. Usually I would say add 1 cheese, but not while on Whole30).

– Chicken, Avo, Mango, Cilantro, Lime, Mint, & Toasted Cashew Salad. Oh my wooord – one of my all time best.
– Bacon, Lime and Sweet Pot Salad
– Grilled Chicken Citrus Salad

mango salad

Meaty Options:

– My BEST EVERRRR: Chipotle Chicken Sweet Pot Skins. Your friends will love you forever. Leave off the cheese. It’s a touch high maintenance, but so, so worth it.

chip chicken skins

– 2nd BEST: Homemade Burgers in Lettuce Wraps. Make it up as you wish. Add whatever tickles your fancy – but keep it dairy free. The crispy lettuce crunch with the warm homemade patty with juicy tomatoes and creamy avo. Stop it. It is so good.

fish tacos

Patty: Throw together minced beef, diced onion, salt, pepper, one egg, a handful of almond flour (leftover from your almond milk), coconut aminos (optional), herbs from the garden, balsamic vinegar, and crushed garlic. Shape into patties, pop in fridge for a while to let the flavours set in and fry in EVOO/Coconut oil on stove. Make extras as snacks. 

– 3rd BEST:  Fish Tacos. I have now started ordering fish tacos in (reputable seafood) restaurants I love them so so much. I adapt this recipe. I leave out the sugar, dairy and carb component and replace it with homemade paleo mayo and crispy lettuce as the wrap. Make this with a mango salsa. A taste sensation.

paleo mayo

Fish & Chips: If you don’t feel like making tacos you can just cook the fish and serve it with yam fries. Yum.

– 4th BEST: Moroccan Meatballs. Yum. Over and Over (on cauli rice). This is another recipe I have continued to make again and again long after our Whole30’s ended.

moroccan meatballs

– 5th BEST: Warm Veggie Salad. The hub is not a huge fan of this one, but I love it. I adapt this recipe (swap the potato for sweet potato or yam). I serve it on baby spinach and mix a couple more flavours into the sauce such as red wine vinegar, balsamic vinegar, salt, pepper and chilli flakes.

When you’re lost for ideas, a frittata is always a safe bet (with whatever you have left in your pantry). Also, how about a delicious roast chicken with roasted veggies? So easy. Use the chicken carcass to make homemade chicken stock (in your Wonderbag) for your soups. So versatile huh?

roast chicken

BEVERAGES: 

– Water, drink it with lemon, or not. Just drink LOTS of it.
– Coffee and Tea with Almond Milk or Coconut Milk. These milks are SO easy to make and have no hidden sugars, preservatives etc. unlike store bought. Also roast the left over coconut and almond flours. They’ll come in handy.
– Soda Water with Lemon (my evening drink of choice)
– Naturally Flavoured Water
– Smoothies (so easy to make)
– Juices in your juicer – such as my fave: Beet, Apple & Ginger
– I’m allowing Kombucha since there is no hard and fast rule if it is allowed. I love it for its probiotic and gut health benefits and so feel it’s a great addition. It’s also a good thing to drink when you feel like a glass of wine.

Beet juice

NEW RECIPES I can’t wait to try:

– Healthy Taco Salad in a mason jar with this deeeelicious salsa.
– Roasted Sweet Pot Salad
– Thai Coconut Soup (I love Thai flavours, and ginger is so good for you)
– Coconut Crusted Chicken Patties (how have we not had these before?)

salsa

Pheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeewwwww. That’s a lot of info to take in. I did so much research on my first Whole30, I put this PDF together with a shopping list, meal plan for my 4 weeks and it really helped me when I was feeling inspiration-less. Print it out and pin it up in your kitchen for when you’re needing ideas: Whole 30 – Schedule (Week 1,2,3,4).

Now it’s your turn! Please share your winning recipes, and your total failures (so we know to, errrmmm, give them a skip). Be inspired to do your own research and create your own meals.

Good luck and enjoy!!

xxx

MUST HAVES in your Paleo Pantry

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So, because I’m the one initiating this Whole30/Paleo month, I feel like I need to be even more on top of it than usual. My type A is kicking in. Not only do I need to get my game on, but I then need to write about it as well. This is accountability at its max.

So – I’ve been shopping. Yeeeowzers, have I been shopping. I dare not tell the hubby how much money I spent on raw nuts last week (lucky for me I put it on the Canadian credit card and so it feels like a distant dream).

Paleo can seem expensive, but if you find the right shops and budget well – it doesn’t have to break the bank. If you’re doing the higher grade version and buying purely organic, 100% grass-fed, pastured kobe beef well then sure, you might crank it up a notch or two on the spending scale, but if you can’t, that’s fine. Do what you can do.

In terms of specific items – here are a few of the must haves in the pantry at.all.times. My top 5:

– Coconut Oil (organic or preferably organic virgin),
– Free Range Eggs (Elgin Free Range Chicken), and
– Nuts for my paleo granola, homemade nut butters and lara balls. I get them all from Yellow Submarine in Ottery (macadamia, almond, cashew, brazil, coconut flakes, dates, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds etc.)
– Coconut Milk/Cream. Buy cans by the dozen. You’ll be amazed at how versatile these babies are.
– Cumin. Well… I just love cumin.

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Fruit & Veg:

I mainly buy our fruits and veggies from our local Pick ‘n Pay – purely for my Vitality Healthy Food benefit (and cash back – see frugal, but smart), as well as Food Lovers when I need things in bulk (like making soups to freeze). When I’m feeling extra green I like to make use of an online organic food box system. I try not shop at Woolworths too much, mainly because I find their prices outrageous and I’m thrifty, and I felt a little fooled about their hormone-free – not so free – milk saga a while back. Holding a grudge? Clearly. Admittedly Woolies do sell good quality fruit and veg and if you are looking for something specific they’ll probably have it, and their fresh food lasts a good while. I also get suckered into their Eat In for under R200. Arghhh… they reel me in with their wonderfully sneaky marketing. (Urgh. did you see that? They even managed to turn me from an average supporter to a fairly pro supporter in just one paragraph. Amazing).

In general I am trying to move towards more of a food box system – mainly because its LOCAL, better tasting and organic, and c’mon – SA needs people to support the smaller entrepreneurs (farmers especially).

Here are a few options you can go with, which I’m going to be making use of this Paleo with Me August.

1) Wild Organics (mini bag R110 and medium bag is R160)
2) Think Organic (budget pack R105 and family pack R155)
3) Abalimi & Harvest of Hope (check out their website and Facebook Page)
4) Ethical Co-op (boxes range from R170 – R115).

And use herbs (from your garden for goodness sake). Please go herb shopping and plant them in the new awesome GROWbags and use them at every opportunity. Once your body has started cleaning out the rubbish, your taste buds will reawaken and these incredibly flavoursome little green leaves will become your best friends.

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I can’t do without: avocados, cherry tomatoes, yams, cauliflower, coriander, lemons, beets and dates.

Healthy Oils/Fats: 

Let’s keep this simple – the most popular and easily accessible oils to cook with are coconut oil and extra-virgin olive oil. If you stick with those you can’t go wrong. Get stocked up on some Oh Mega nut butters (except for the peanut butters – those aren’t allowed). Nuts are the BEST thing to snack on (although, let’s not go overboard).

You can also make almond milk if you simply cannot drink tea and coffee without ‘milk’ in it.

I can’t do without: coconut oil, cashew nuts, almond butter, and almonds (for lara balls).

Just a 1kg bag of cashews for the road. As you do.

Protein:

A couple tips when it comes to protein:

– Fish: please buy wild fish,
– Chicken/Poultry/Eggs: please buy free range,
– Beef: at minimum, please eat lean, fat trimmed/drained beef (remember, we are not banting), and at best, please try find grass-fed and/or organic beef (budget related).
– Processed meat (bacon, sausages, deli meats): please try avoid factory-farmed, or anything with added sugar or MSG, sulfites or carrageenan.

I can’t do without: all of the above really. They are all needed for some of my all time favourite Paleo recipes (coming soon). But don’t overdo it on the meat either. Lets glean the wisdom of our friend, Michael Pollan:

eat food not too much

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Now that we have all the basic staples stocked, look out for the post coming with my favorite recipes. It’s going to be a goodie.

Any questions? Now is the time to ask…