The Paleo Diet

Recently, a friend of mine has been looking into the “Paleo Diet.” I heard about this diet in an anthropology class.  Personally, I think it is weird.  Then again, I think being strict vegan is weird.

So what exactly is a Paleo Diet?  It is a diet based foods eaten during the Paleolithic age.  The gist is this is what our ancestors ate so it must be good.  According to the research, humans weren’t designed to eat dairy or grain products which this diet disallows.

Like other “research” I have read related to food, I find a lot of it designed to try and convince people that this or that is bad/good for you.  I will link several website regarding the Paleo Diet and none of them agree on what is the best things to eat.

One site Paleodiet Foods lists foods that are supposedly in the diet.  Looking down the list I have to wonder who much top sirloin (encouraged), extra –lean hamburger (encouraged), diet-sodas (in moderation) and beer (in moderation) paleolithic man had.

On Paleo Diet food/shopping list stresses the importance of grass fed beef and other “exotic” meats such as venison, buffalo, bear, etc. and has a link to Fossil Farms where one can get these meats special order. 

On the other hand, at Paleo Diet Lifestyle the story changes and they insist you eat large portions of fat and while technically a dairy product which are discouraged, butter is encouraged as a good fat source.

In the article I read for the anthropology class – The New Age Cavemen and the City even these guys couldn’t agree on what or how to eat their foods.

I find this diet too confusing to follow with too many contradictions between the so-called experts.

In the comment field below, please feel free to give me your opinion and thoughts about the Paleo diet.

Someone Actually Eats That!?!

A friend of mine posted an interesting photo on Facebook.   And, my first thought was:  EWW!

The photo was a can of pork brains in milk gravy. (This link is not to my friend's photo but a blog about the item.) Just the name of it is enough for me not to try it.  But even if I were so bold, and I’m not, the stuff has 3190mg of cholesterol…. It’s just heart stopping!

This photo made me realize there are a lot of foods that many of us haven’t tried or won't try. 

Here is a list of foods that may or may not be good. I’ll never know because I’m too cowardly to try them.

•  Birds Nest Soup :  Authentic bird’s nest soup is made from a cave swallow’s nest.  This swallow secretes an adhesive-like substance that holds the next together.  Yes, bird spit is the secret to bird’s nest soup.

• Chicken Feet:  The first time I saw chicken feet in the meat section of the grocery store, I was curious as to why they were there.  Then I found out that people actually ate them.  I’m not sure why.

• Rattlesnake:  I’ve been told that it tastes like chicken.  Trust me!  I’ll never find out.

• Poutine:  I first heard of poutine in a comic strip, so I had to look it up to see if it was real.  It is real and it’s not as strange as some other foods listed, but the combination doesn’t appeal to me.
•  Headcheese:  It’s not cheese.   It is head.  

•  Haggis:  I know it is popular in Scotland.

• Rocky Mountain Oysters:  Also called prairie oysters.  I first heard of these when I was a teenager.  After 35 years, I still haven’t and won’t try them.

In the comment section below, give me your thoughts, comments or lists of other strange foods you may or may not eat.

African Peanut Stew

I used to get "the recipe of the day" from allrecipes.com.  I still have a backlog of recipes I have yet to try.  This particular recipe for African Chicken Stew has been a favorite of my husband's since I first made it several years ago.

I did make some slight modifications.  First, I use chicken breast instead of a whole chicken.  I use a cup of chicken broth instead of water.  And, I don’t use canned garbanzo beans.  




African Peanut Stew



After searching the web some, I’ve found that there are several different ways of making this recipe.

This recipe for African Chicken Peanut Stew adds tomatoes and cilantro.

This Vegetarian African Peanut Stew uses sweet potatoes and spinach.

And if Spicy African Peanut Stew is your thing, add some garam masala.

Emeril Lagasse has his own version called African Peanut Soup that uses ground turkey.

In the comment section below, please give me your thoughts and comments  of what you might think of this dish.

Mmmmmm Tomato Soup

One of my favorite soups is tomato.  I’ve tried different recipes with various forms of success.

While visiting my friend Chef Joey at his restaurant The Green Gourmet, I had the pleasure of trying his version of Tomato Basil Soup.  It was so good that I asked him if I could please have the recipe.  

He said to me, “This recipe is so easy, you don’t even have to write anything down.  Here is all you need:”

• Pour some olive oil and cover the bottom of the soup pot.
• Add a chopped onion, stir while frying them until the onions are clear but don’t brown them.
• Then add the secret ingredient… a can of tomato juice.
• Then add a handful of chopped fresh basil.
• Finally, use an immersion blender.

Sounds too easy, right?  Easy and very good and I made this at home recently.  My husband loved it so I know it is a winner.  I think I will continue using this particular recipe from now on.

Here are a couple of other alternatives for making tomato soup:

The recipe presented in this video calls for whole tomatoes and straining afterward to rid the soup of chunks.  It also uses a lot of butter and heavy cream.

This next recipe from The Food Network for Homemade Tomato Soup is also rather fatty.  This recipe does use olive oil for the vegetables rather than butter, but still uses heavy cream and butter.  In this recipe the cook is using canned tomatoes. 

In the comment section below, please feel free to tell me your favorite recipe, suggestions, and other thoughts about tomato soup.

Restaurant Food

When you are as health conscious as I am about what you put into your body, restaurants come up short in most cases.

Fast foods from restaurants like McDonalds™, Burger King™, and Taco Bell™ are full of sodium, fat and other preservatives that are usually unpronounceable.

Some of these fast food places offer healthy alternatives.  However, the healthy part is that most of these alternatives don’t have as much fat but are still loaded down with sodium and preservatives.

Chain restaurants such as Chili’s™, Applebee’s™, and Texas Roadhouse™, are as bad as the fast food places when it comes to fat and sodium levels.

Diatfacts.com gives a list of many restaurants, the foods they offer and their nutritional values.

Look at McDonald’s Asian Salad™ without the chicken and dressing –low calories and low sodium.  However, many people don’t eat it plain without the dressing or the chicken.  Big difference with the chicken but no dressing the calories aren’t so bad but the sodium levels are huge.  If you add the dressing the sodium levels go even higher. 

Now look at a Grilled Chicken Caesar Salad from Chili’s Bar & Grill™.  It’s worse than the one you can get from McDonald's™.

It is hard for the health conscious to eat out.  That’s why when we went to Florida we visited a friend of mine and his restaurant in Delray Beach, The Green Gourmet.  I will be writing a feature story on Chef Joey Giannuzzi and his wonderful restaurant soon.

What makes the Green Gourmet special?  Organic foods, alternatives to salt, and a chef who cares about his patrons on a personal level.  I’ve even walked away with one of his recipes that I will be sharing soon.

While not many areas have a restaurant like the Green Gourmet, there are ways of getting “healthier” alternatives at the chains.

When ordering:

• Ask that no extra salt be used when preparing your dish.
• When ordering a salad, ask for the dressing on the side and don’t use as much of it.
• Ask for just a simple vinaigrette for a dressing  instead of the heavier dressings.

In the comment section below, please feel free to tell me about your favorite restaurant or healthy alternatives you have found for eating out.

               

For the Love of Cookies

I love the way the house smells after baking cookies. 

I have tried various recipes through the years, and the best by far is the one that my mother-in-law gave to me when I first started dating my husband.

Ingredients:

2 1/4 – 2 1/2 cups of flour	1 teaspoon of baking soda
1 cup (2 sticks) of butter	3/4 cup of brown sugar
1/4 cup of white sugar	1 package of vanilla instant pudding
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract	2 large eggs (slightly beaten)
1 bag (12 ounces) of chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375̊

In a small bowl, mix the flour and baking soda together and set aside.

In a large bowl, mix the butter, brown sugar and white sugar together.  Then add the instant pudding and the vanilla. When the batter is smooth and creamy, add the eggs.  Add in the flour mixture until everything is well blended.  Finally add the chocolate chips.

The fun thing about having a recipe like this is the versatility.  You can use other things with your chocolate chips like walnuts or pecans.  Or, you can substitute other items peanut butter chips or raisins.

Usually I add to the chocolate chips.  This time however, I used a trail mix of chocolate and peanut butter chips, raisins, peanuts and M&Ms®. 

I also use homemade vanilla extract.  It's really easy to make your own vanilla extract. I found vanilla beans for a good price on Amazon.com.

In the comment section below, tell me your favorite cookie or recipe, or other comments on cookies or baking cookies.

Pot Roast Stew

I like pot roast.  I just dislike making pot roast.  Okay, the truth is I don’t like waiting for a pot roast to finish doing its thing in the oven. I have found that the best alternative is to make stew out of the pot roast.

I start with a nice pot roast, cut it up into nice little chunks and coat them with a little bit of flour.

Then I get my vegetables ready.  Now here is where you can get creative, because you can add whatever vegetables you like.  I generally use potatoes, celery, onions, green beans and carrots.  I cut them up in nice chunks.

In a large stock pot, heat up the olive oil.  Add about a clove of garlic and sauté for about 30 to 60 seconds before adding the meat.  After you brown the meat, pour in the broth and stir until the broth starts to simmer.  Add the vegetables, herbs and soy sauce then bring to a full boil stirring occasionally.   Then let simmer 25 to 30 minutes or until the vegetables are tender.

Ingredients for my recipe:

Pot roast cubed up	32 ounces of low sodium chicken broth
2 or 3 large potatoes	1 large onion
3 or 4 stalks of celery	2 or 3 carrots
1 can of unsalted green beans	Ground black pepper
2 cloves of garlic minced	2 tablespoons of olive oil
Fresh basil	Fresh oregano
3 tablespoons of soy sauce	1/2 cup of flour

Here is the finished product

There are of course other ways of making beef stew.  At Allrecipes.com you will be able to find many different styles of stew including this "Hearty Beef Stew" and a "Vegan Stew."  Since flour is a source of gluten, I found this Beef Stew at Gluten-Free Goddess. 

However, If you don't want to turn your pot roast into beef stew, then try this pot roast recipe.

In the comment section below, please feel free to post your recipe, preferences or other comments about pot roast or stew.