Breaking Down Breakfast Time

Answering the big questions..

Is it really 𝘵𝘩𝘦 most important meal of the day?
What does a healthy brekkie look like?
What other factors are there at brekkie time other than just the foods we eat?
Breakfast ideas for fussy and restricted eaters?

and more in this blog!

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𝗜𝘀 𝗶𝘁 𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝘁𝗼 𝗲𝗮𝘁 𝗮 𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗱𝘆 𝗯𝗿𝗲𝗸𝗸𝗶𝗲 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴?

That’s a controversial question in the health realm for sure! Some say it is, some say it’s good to skip it and continue the fast from throughout the night into later in the day.

In all of my years learning about and living the Primal way I’ve definitely come to the understanding that breakfast is an important time to eat, for most of us, if not all of us.

Let’s look at why brekkie is an important meal, thanks to the wisdom of Mark Sisson of Mark’s Daily Apple…

“Breakfast is When You Break Your Fast

Historically, breakfast was a term used to describe your first meal of the day, no matter when that meal took place. Sometime around the 15th century, it became synonymous with the meal you consume shortly after waking up. And now, thanks to the hundreds of thousands of people thriving with intermittent fasting, breakfast is returning to its first-meal-of-your-day roots.

Simply put, breakfast is how you break your fast.

Whether you have a planned eating window or your fast is just the hours that you’re asleep, the meal that answers the day’s first call of hunger is arguably the most important.

Let me repeat that: your first hunger of the day is the most important.

It’s your body’s first polite request for you to deliver substantial, supportive, and sustainable fuel to your body.

Benefits may include:

• Your cravings disappear
• You’re not thinking about food 24/7
• You have more sustained energy
• You stop snacking all day
• You sleep better at night
• You’re not spiralling into guilt or shame because you binged once the sun went down”

I 100% feel my best when I’m eating a good meal in the morning. Not necessarily right away, or as my first ‘activity’ but definitely eating brekkie is my jam. Pun intended, cos, I love puns! Brekkie helps fuel my brain for funnier puns too.. haha

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𝗢𝗸, 𝘀𝗼 𝘄𝗲 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝗯𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗸𝗳𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝘀𝘂𝗽𝗲𝗿 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗻𝘁, 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗼𝗱𝘀 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝘄𝗲 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗲𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗻?

Basically, what most of the world eats most mornings. Grain-based cereals, toast, sausages full of flours and other fake stuff, crappy bacon, tinned baked beans, acai bowls, fruit and greens smoothies, green juices, just a coffee, pastries, muesli bars, protein bars, regular pancakes and waffles, syrups, jam, vegemite, margarine… the list continues but I think that covers most of the standard breakfast options.

If you’re still not convinced that cereal, toast etc do not play a role in a healthy lifestyle (for kids or adults, anyone at any age) refer to our blog all about GRAINS for all the info to get educated.

Why aren’t liquids like smoothies and green juices a good idea? A main reason is that our digestion starts in the mouth when we CHEW our food. Drinking a meal isn’t good for the gut. Another reason is that greens, fruits etc are highly inflammatory and end up causing more problems than positives to our health.

Why aren’t bars healthy? They’re full of junk! Simple!

High fruit brekkies aren’t good for us, if there’s way more sugar than protein and fat.

A high carb meal first up is going to make us hungry again and have an energy drop within a few hours.

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𝗜𝗴𝗻𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗰𝗹𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗰𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝗯𝗼𝘅 𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗻𝗱 ‘𝗯𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗮𝗱𝗱𝗲𝗱 𝗳𝗶𝗯𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗹𝘁𝗵𝘆’ 𝗮𝗱𝘀

𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗦 𝗶𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗮 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗹𝘁𝗵𝘆 𝗯𝗿𝗲𝗸𝗸𝗶𝗲 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲…

Animal based. Honest to goodness. Eating meat, animal fat, gelatin/collagen, bone broth and eggs makes the basis of a nourishing start to the day. Animal protein and fat provides long-lasting energy, a high level of essential nutrients that are bio-available (meaning the human body knows how to process them properly and efficiently), and extremely low in (if any) anti-nutrients.

Meat muffins, leftovers from dinner, slow cooked meat, cold roasted meats, eggs done a kazillion different ways, meat waffles, mince patties, good quality bacon, bone broth, collagen/gelatin, cheeses (dairy and not) cooking in and adding beef fat, lard, ghee, butter… there are so many ways to have a nourishing and enjoyable animal-based brekkie meal.

Adding in a few other healthy low-inflammatory options like avocado, mushrooms, some veggies, and low-sugar fruits (e.g. berries) are great too. Even whole fruit jelly can be a great addition to breakfast meals.

Then the sometimes ingredients like coconut yoghurt, coconut cream/milk, honey or pure maple syrup, fruits, paleo flours turned into breads, cereals, waffles, pancakes etc.

It’s really not hard to switch from standard crappy options over to nutritious alternatives. It takes some effort, planning and time initially, a transition period, then getting used to it so it becomes the ‘norm’. We did it over a decade ago. And if Clint, who said “𝘐 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘶𝘱 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥” can do it, anyone can!

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𝗔 𝗴𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝗯𝗿𝗲𝗸𝗸𝗶𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗼𝗱!

It’s so sad that most of the world thinks a healthy breakfast consists of standard cereals such as cornflakes, sugary kids cereals, mueslis etc, wheat and grain-filled gluten-free toast, spreads, icky green drinks, fruit bowls and smoothies, conventional coffee (non organic) with regular highly processed milks (skim being the worst)…

When the actual healthy options are based on animal foods, low inflammatory whole foods and essential minerals. And a good start to the day is about so much more than just the foods we eat! How much outdoor time we get matters too. Sunrise (or as close to) light directly on our skin and in our eyes, our feet touching the earth, breathing in fresh air, moving our bodies.. it’s all super important on a regular basis.

Let’s start thinking about breakfast time in a more holistic and all-rounder approach. Instead of sitting around a table or in front of the TV eating junk and not doing anything else.

𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩’𝙨 𝙊𝙉𝙀 𝙣𝙚𝙬 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙩𝙝𝙮 𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙥 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙩𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙖 𝙗𝙚𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙗𝙧𝙚𝙠𝙠𝙞𝙚 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚?

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What we do + eat at breakfast time

#1: Consume Sole on an empty stomach (mineral salt drenched water in a glass of water to remineralise the body)

#2: Outdoor time barefoot, moving, getting fresh air.

#3: Early sunshine directly in the eyes and on the skin.

#4: Eating a nourishing animal-based brekkie meal.

That’s what we do most days of the week to turn our get-up-and-go hormones kicking in, to fuel us, and to keep us full and productive all morning.

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Recipe + meal ideas

A simple mince meat pattie with eggs is an easy one, add avocado or mushroom, some low sugar friends or whole fruit jelly, or bone broth, and you have an insanely healthy fuel source to start the day. We sometimes make and ghee-daise which is so creamy and delicious, and for leaner meat we add raw beef suet packed full of bio-available nutrients.

For other ideas check out our website.

Adding offal is a very good idea and a great way to hide the flavour is in patties! Meat Muffins is a brilliant (and popular) time saving breakfast idea, Meat Waffles are different, there are healthy swap recipes for sometimes-meals like pancakes, there’s a couple of cereal options.. a few things to hopefully inspire you to create nourishing breakfast meals for you and the fam 😋

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I hope this information and our perspectives and experiences help you and your family on your journey to better health + more happiness!

Aimee

Primal Health Coach for Women

Visit our website: Primal Influence 

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Recipe: Winter Warming Porridge (Paleo + oat/nut-free)

Are you like me and miss enjoying a bowl of steaming oats and honey for brekkie in Winter time? If you’re no longer eating gluten and grains and miss oats as an easy breakfast option then you’ll love my healthy porridge recipe!

 

It’s even nut-free, a bonus for those who, like me, don’t do well on nuts, or are allergic to them.

The other bonus is it’s super quick and easy to make! It even has a similar texture to instant oats.

WINTER WARMING PORRIDGE – with blueberries

 

You’ll need:

1/4 cup organic green banana flour (buy here)
1/2 cup organic desiccated coconut + extra for garnish
Pure vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg powder (to your liking)
Ayam coconut milk for drizzling over to serve (use another milk if you prefer)
1–2 cups spring/filtered water
½ cup organic frozen blueberries
Drizzle of raw honey (optional)

Other flavour suggestions: Grade B pure maple syrup, Medjool dates pitted and diced, grated apple, any berries, slices of banana

Method:

1. In a small saucepan on very low heat add the spices aand stir to draw out flavour
2. Add remaining ingredients and stir will until warmed right through and blueberries have thawed. Add more water if needed until it reaches the consistency you like
3. Transfer to a serving bowl
4. Drizzle honey on, pour on coconut milk and garnish with a sprinkle of dried coconut

 

You can leave out the blueberries and add whatever fruit you like, add chopped nuts if you like, some cacao nibs, cocoa powder for a chocolate porridge bowl… this recipe is so versatile!

Grated apple adds freshness

Time saver tips:

Measure out a few serves worth of the dry ingredients, place in a large jar, shake well and store in the pantry to grab on mornings when you’re short on time. Spoon as much as you like into the saucepan, add the water and any other flavours (such as fresh fruit) you like, stir through then serve. This saves you time getting the dry ingredients together, yay!

To save even MORE time, use clean dried fruit and add to the jar! Such as sulphur-free dried banana, berries etc.  Freeze coconut milk into ice cube trays and keep a bag of cubes in the freezer so you always have some handy, then use one on top of your warm porridge. Easy!

Enjoy and please let me know what you think!

Want to know more about green banana flour? Watch this video!

If you’d like to grab ALL of my green banana flour recipes my e-books are available to purchase HERE!

 

Aimee x

Recipe: a Paleo dairy-free and nut-free cheese alternative

There are stacks of dairy-free ‘cheese’ recipes online and in books now. Some taste good and some taste nothing like cheese of course. Some are easy to make, some are really hard work.  Plus, most are made using nuts and not everyone can tolerate nuts well. Like me!

Most of my recipes are derived from a desire to create Paleo-friendly nut-free dishes for those who are allergic, don’t feel good eating many nuts, or just want nut-free alternatives. Especially important for school lunchboxes!

Last year I was introduced to an amazing dairy-free nut-free melting cheese recipe thanks to the legendary Aussie Paleo Chef (as known on Facebook, but just ‘Dan’ to us!) which goes brilliantly in Paleo burgers, in lasagne and on my chicken parmie recipe (in my soon-to-come Banana Flour e-book!!) and one of my fave recipes to teach people at private cooking workshops, always crediting back to the man himself of course!

If you’d like to grab his melting cheese recipe just download the Paleo Kitchen Creations e-book and enjoy the deliciousness!

So since learning that recipe, using it a lot and loving it.. I wanted to create a cheese that didn’t work only melted and could be spread onto crackers like regular animal milk-based cheese. One day I got creative in the kitchen and came up with a winner, using similar ingredients to Dan’s recipe, but slightly different. Of course though, me being me and not always organised in the kitchen, I didn’t write down the recipe as I went and couldn’t then remember the ingredients or method afterwards therefore I couldn’t replicate it so I could give it to you guys! Oh believe me, I tried! And failed… many times.

I’d almost given up but decided recently to have another crack.. and whad’ya know.. success!

I’ve finally created a spreadable cheese alternative recipe! I’ll be honest though, it doesn’t taste like real cheese, no cheese substitutes do. But, it’s a really healthy alternative and something interesting to include at dinner parties, as a snack, whenever you’d usually use cheese really.

Since it isn’t cheese and doesn’t taste exactly like cheese, let’s not call it “cheese”. Because that’s a fib after all! Instead, how ’bout we call it.. Cheezy Paleo Spread as it does have a likeness to cheese but it’s not the same as it, and that’s kinda cheezy I think! 😉

Ingredients you’ll need:

1/2 cup organic desiccated coconut

1/2 cup arrowroot flour

1 tbsp grass-fed pure beef gelatin powder (grab some via our affiliate link here)

2 tbsp spring/filtered water

1/2-1 tsp turmeric powder – depending on how yellow you want your cheez

1 tbsp apple cider vinegar

1 tbsp Niulife creamed coconut (not coconut cream/milk, but dried coconut processed to become ‘creamy’)

Himalayan salt to taste

 

Kitchen bits you’ll need:

Good blender (high speed, bullet, or glass with decent power)

Whisk

Measuring spoons and cups

Round or square/rectangle container lined with baking paper or plastic wrap. Plastic wrap will probably allow for creases to appear around the edges of the cheez but that’s not necessarily a bad thing!

 

Steps to follow:

1. In a small saucepan add 1 tbsp water and gently sprinkle gelatin powder evenly over the surface. Do not turn the stove on until the gelatin powder has absorbed some of the water and has ‘bloomed’.
2. Turn heat to medium and whisk the liquid so all gelatin granules have dissolved. Remove from the heat and set aside
3. Add to the blender add all remaining ingredients then drizzle the gelatin water on top
4. Place the lid on the blender and blitz on high to break down the desiccated coconut and combine everything well. You can blitz until you reach a very smooth consistency or stop before it reaches that if you prefer the texture of some of the coconut remaining
5. As you’re blending feel free to add a smidge more water (as in 1 tsp at a time) in case the mixture is too thick and isn’t combining properly. This can depend on your blender. Basically, you’re after a well combined and thick mixture with no lumps of creamed coconut or arrowroot remaining
6. Once it’s to your liking use a silicon spatula or food processor scraper (food processor scrapers seem to work perfectly for getting around all the grooves in blenders!) to remove the mixture and transfer to the lined container
7. Gently tap the base of the container on a steady surface like a chopping board to help the mixture spread to the corners and settle evenly
8. Place in the fridge for a couple of hours to set
9. When it’s time to serve, take it out of the fridge, grab the plastic or paper to remove it all from the container then remove the paper/plastic so you’re left with a big chunk of yellow cheez
10. Serve on a platter with crackers spread out around, or cut to smaller sizes if you wish. Keep in mind on a really hot day outside the cheez may melt because of the coconut oil and gelatin but it will take a while to melt completely. Use a butter knife to spread onto crackers or slide carrot sticks into it. Easy!
11. Store in the fridge in an air-tight container or wrapped in plastic. It contains gelatin which is an animal product so it will spoil after a few days as with any animal product. The apple cider vinegar will help preserve it to an extent but if the smell or colour changes please discard it.

Enjoy!

The recipe for the Rosemary Crackers (in the image) will be in my Banana Flour e-book, so be sure to keep an eye out for that.. launching in February 2016, yay!

I hope you enjoy creating and eating this recipe, please do let me know what you think!

 

Here are some answers to some questions I may get after sharing this recipe:

• Why not use nutritional yeast? I have experimented with it many times and every time it leaves my stomach very bloated and gassy the next day. From what I’ve read about it, it’s so processed and unnatural in its useable state that it easily messes with digestion. And don’t we mostly go Paleo to improve gut health?! Feel free to use it if you can tolerate it well but remember it could have inflammatory effects. It would replace turmeric for the yellow effect but turmeric is so healthy!
• Why use gelatin? Pure gelatin is so healing (so it’s actually good for digestion!) and helps create the texture of this cheez
• Could I use other types of dried coconut? Yes but the larger the pieces the longer they’ll take to break down enough in the blender.

Let me know if you have any questions to add!

Thanks,

Aimee xx

 

5 Things I’m Grateful For:

1. Our long weekend away in NSW going to a family wedding, seeing new places and staying with amazing friends
2. The sun out today so I can get some Vitamin D!
3. Healthy recipe creating
4. All Dan’s wonderful advice and inspiration
5. You guys reading our blogs!

Book review + competition: Paleo from A to Z

I ‘ve followed The Fitness Explorer Darryl Edwards for quite a while now. I remember browsing through fitness websites on the internet a few years ago and coming across the The Fitness Explorer website.  Straight away the movements and games Darryl played and taught resonated deeply with me and I wanted to implement some of the ideas into my own training and in my clients sessions.

One of our all time favourite paleo books

It was mine and Aimee’s pleasure to finally meet Darryl last year when he was in Australia promoting his book Paleo Fitness and after spending some time with the big man we were definitely not disappointed; he has a wide knowledge base when it comes to the Paleo lifestyle and he’s an all-round nice guy.

Fun at Primal Pantry

We’re excited Darryl has a new book out! It’s called Paleo from A to Z  which we’ve been lucky enough to read and also have a copy to giveaway!  Competition details at the end of this post.

My thoughts on Paleo from A to Z

“Cholestorol ISN’T the enemy? Wah?!” So much great info in this book

It’s been described as “the go-to reference for all things Paleo” and that’s exactly what it is.  In fact just recently we had a friend over for dinner and we were talking about what tapioca is, so we grabbed the book to find some info about it and sure enough on page 258 “Tapioca- A starchy food made from cassava roots. Tapioca is gluten free but has very little nutritional value. Some Paleo recipes use tapioca flour as a substitute for wheat flour”. We found exactly what we needed when we needed it!

This book is a brilliant resource for anyone who is new to the Paleo lifestyle and confused with all of the jargon, through to the seasoned Paleo veteran who wants to touch-up on their knowledge, learn something new, and help others learn too.

I believe it’s a must-have in your selection of Paleo books. This book is a permanent feature on our coffee table and, as strange as it sounds,  I’ve thoroughly enjoyed randomly selecting pages sometimes and reading up on each topic on the page. Something you might find fun to do too!

 

Darryl was kind enough to give us some time for a Q & A while getting ready for his next trip to Brisbane for the screening of the We Love Paleo movie.

 

Hanging out with Darryl…

US: You’re known as The Fitness Explorer www.thefitnessexplorer.com all over the world and creator of ‘Primal Play’. How would you describe ‘Primal Play’ to the uninitiated?

DE: The Primal Play Method is a unique combination of primal movement with solo, partner and group-based activities that are engaging and transformative. Designed for those who have forgotten the joy of movement.

US: As a paleo lifestyle advocate what are your top 3 tips for people wanting to transition?

DE: Research as much about the lifestyle as possible, but keep it simple.
Set goals which are realistic, meaningful and life-enhancing.
Focus on long-term success rather than competing a series of inordinately difficult short challenges.

US: You have a new book out – “Paleo from A to Z” – What inspired you to want to create this?

DE: It was written to help people navigate the wealth of information out there about the Paleo lifestyle but placed in one handy reference. A Paleo lifestyle encyclopaedia if you will. This book was designed to be a glossary of terms for those new to the Paleo lifestyle, but also with over 500 topics it has enough detail and research citations to ensure even Paleo veterans learn something new. It was intended to be non-intimidating and written in plain English. It has also been recently translated into Spanish. Sign up to my mailing list and you can download a free excerpt of the book: www.PaleofromAtoZ.com

Here’s a trailer of the book.

US: You travel a lot for Paleo lifestyle events, book tours etc. How do you stay healthy and balanced with nutrition and play with all the travel you do?

DE: I travel hack to get the best travel experience I can especially when travelling long haul, I sleep hack to optimise my sleep when travelling across multiple time zones and to mitigate against jet lag. I also plan ahead to ensure there are no issues with nutrition. It’s not about achieving perfection but about making the best decisions I can and weighing up the costs and benefits at the time. In terms of Play? I aim to always be in a playful state and fortunately there are many people I have met on my travels who resonate with this.

US: What’s next for Darryl Edwards – The Fitness Explorer?

DE: Launching PrimalPlay.com in the near future and working on other exciting projects to bring Primal Play and the Paleo lifestyle to a larger audience.

 

Thanks for the chat Darryl and for the opportunity to read your book! We know you’ll have a tonne of success with your new projects and adventures and hope to catch up with you in person again soon for some PLAY!!

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Aussies.. you can WIN a copy of Darryl’s amazing new book!!

Head here for all the info and good luck!

 

Clint

 

Recipe: Paleo Pecan Biscuits

I attempted my own version of a paleo-friendly pecan biscuit recipe not long after we got home from our trip to Moree, because Tony at Three Apples Organics gave me 2 bags of organic pecans!

I’m not a huge fan of eating a lot of paleo baked sweets, especially when full of nuts and seeds (due to the unhealthy changes that happen when nuts and seeds are heated, and the typical nutrient overwhelm that occurs in these kinds foods, making it tough on the gut to digest) but because I very rarely get to use or eat pecans, and I had so many of them I thought… why not get experimenting in the kitchen to see what I could come up with?!

And of course, I wouldn’t recommend eating these every day, but as a treat now and then, why not?!

S0… at this time I was still pretty new to using banana flour, and I wanted to play around with it a bit more and decided to include it in this recipe because I’d read it’s great for creating a nice biscuity texture.

One day I had a go at making a batch of biccies using the banana flour, pecans and other basic paleo ingredients. But Clint and I both agreed that while the biscuity texture was in fact great, the flavour was lacking a little. Basically… they were too boring. I couldn’t have that now could I!

 

So this week I finally gave it another crack and I think I’ve nailed it! And I’d love to share my new recipe with you all!

PALEO PECAN BISCUITS

Makes 8 large biscuits

You’ll Need:

1 tbsp arrowroot flour

1/2 tbsp Great Lakes beef gelatin powder (grab some here!)

1 tbsp coconut flour

3 tbsp Natural Evolution Foods banana flour

1 tsp each of nutmeg, cinnamon and vanilla powder

1/2 tsp each of aluminium-free bicarb soda, rice/gluten-free baking powder, Himalayan salt

1/2 cup crushed pecans, lightly toasted (organic if possible)

1 tsp apple cider vinegar

4 tbsp ghee (or coconut oil)

2 tbsp pure Grade B maple syrup

2 pastured organic eggs

 

Do This:

1. Preheat oven to 170 degrees Celsius

2. Add all dry ingredients into a bowl and mix well

3. In a tall, narrow jug add the wet ingredients and use a stick blender to mix well (or use a whisk or food processor but stick blenders are so quick and emulsify so well)

4. Next combine the wet and dry ingredients together and mix really well. It should be quite a thick batter, not runny at all

5. Place a sheet of baking paper on an oven tray and spoon dollops of batter onto the paper, spread out. I used about a tablespoon of mixture each biscuit which ended up in large biscuits because of how much the mixture rises and spreads while baking, so you can be quite minimal with how much you use so you have more biscuits to go around

6. Bake in the oven for around 20 mins, depending on your oven keep an eye on them (mine is not the best to go off unfortunately!), you’re wanting the biscuits to be dark brown on the bottom and edges but not as dark on top or they may be burnt underneath.

7. Once cooked through, remove from the oven and allow to cool. Then dish them out… but they won’t last long!

The texture should be slightly soft and moist inside while still crunchy and biscuity on the outside. Compared to the first attempt I did at making these, when the texture all the way through was dry, this recipe is much nicer and got the thumbs up from Clint when he tried them!

 

You don’t have to stick to this flavour combination. Especially if you can’t get a hold of quality raw pecans. How about swapping for macadamias and honey? Or walnuts and maple? If you stick to the base recipe and swap the nuts and sweetener around you can come up with some pretty unique biccies that the whole family can enjoy! 🙂

 

I appreciate the input of Dan the Aussie Paleo Chef, with the suggestion of toasting the pecans beforehand, and adding in the extra egg, as I’d used raw nuts and only 1 egg the first time. I’m happy to say though, the inclusion of arrowroot and gelatin was my idea and I’m so happy with the outcome!

I hope you enjoy making and devouring these biscuits!

Happy paleo baking 🙂

Aimee

 

5 Things I’m Grateful For:

1. Using quality ingredients to make healthy foods

2. My paleo journey which is leading me to better health

3. Sunny days

4. Going camping in the bush

5. Fluffy winter socks!

Paleo meetups aren’t just about the food.. but it is a bonus!

Today we held a very laid back meetup at Earthly Wonders Emporium in Maroochydore, who just a few months ago started introducing paleo options to the menu. We thought it was about time we held a meetup there, so we did! It was lovely too. Just a small group of ladies came along and joined us for a couple of hours of eating, drinking and lots of chatting!

 

Thanks to the ladies who came along, it was lovely to see you all. And thanks also to Kelly and her wonderful team for hosting us! Clint’s special iced choc with mesquite, that he always asks for, was delicious as usual. My nettle tea was perfect. And everyone else seemed to enjoy their meals and drinks too. And it was a great setting for a lot of good conversation!

Sweet potato, eggs, meat, salad, all sorts of amazingness right there!

Dig in Lesya!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nettle tea was just what I needed today

Clint’s fave drink.. iced chocolate with mesquite powder. YUM!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The chats, as well as the food and drinks, were great today; we talked paleo of course including eating and other aspects such as movement and getting outside in nature. We also talked about what work we do, the stresses in our lives, some of our big goals for the future, and all sorts of things.

 

Clint and I really cherish these get-togethers – connecting with people like this, who are also on a journey to achieving good health and happiness, is a very special thing and we hope this meetup group continues to grow and supported by locals, so we can keep paleo going on the Sunny Coast, to help and inspire as many people as possible!

If you’d like to come along to future meetups at this cafe, or just any of our awesome gatherings, stay up to date with events here

 

Good night x

Aimee

 

5 things I’m grateful for:

1. Today’s meetup and the lovely people we spoke to

2. Organic and paleo-friendly cafes in our region

3. The amazing warm sunny days this week and being able to sit outside and soak up the Vitamin D

4. My raspberry plant about to berry this season

5. Good friends

 

Live a life of excess in moderation

Before you read any further I must let you know the following information is purely based on my thoughts and ideas.  I have conducted no scientific research into what I am writing about.  Since my works are based purely on thoughts and speculation please let me know if you have more knowledge or any different ideas on the subject.  I’d love to see what others think of this idea.  If you think about this stuff at all?!

So… today I sat down and watched a magnificent video (below) of a man climbing a 40 meter tree to gather honey for himself and his family.  This clip was not only awe inspiring, it got me on to the train of thought that I am currently on.

What if the way we’re currently basing our eating on is in fact not ideal for our species? I hear the same comment over and over again when people are talking about food.

“Everything in moderation is ok” they say.

But what if our human ancestors did not in fact eat in moderation? What if they lived a life of excess with certain foods? 

And what I mean by the term ‘moderation’ is… consuming a little bit of something most days. As in, “a teaspoon or two of honey every day is healthy because it’s only a little bit of sugar every day. It’s in moderation” for example.

I refer back to the earlier video of the man getting the honey for himself and his family.  In this instance did he display eating honey in moderation? Or did he enjoy as much honey as he could handle (or in ‘excess’)? He worked so damn hard to climb to such a height do you think he only took a little bit, or a lot?  I believe he would of more than likely taken just enough to not only sustain himself and his family but also to ensure the survival of the bee colony. I doubt he would have taken it all and left none.

What about when a small tribe of hunters that brings down a beast?  Do they only eat a little bit of meat? Or do they eat and eat in order to sustain themselves for as long as possible and to ensure that they don’t waste any valuable meat?  Back then I imagine meat would have gone rancid pretty quickly so keeping it for long periods of time was probably not have been an option.  Not to mention the smell of a fresh kill would have woken any animal with a healthy sense of smell.

Or what about the tribes that lived on rivers or lakes where massive amounts of fish and other sea animals would congregate for a short period of time.  Would they display moderation when catching dinner or again would they eat to excess?

So using this idea of excess do we go back to how it once was?  Instead of having a plate with meat and 5 different types of veg, how bout we spend the whole day just eating meat, or the whole day just eating fish, or the whole day eating a couple types of vegetable or even nothing at all! Basically spending a whole day eating something that would have been naturally available to us without all the quick and easy options from the supermarket.

Maybe our ancestors are like this not by choice, but more so due to their circumstances. Maybe they didn’t end up killing that beast they were hunting all day. Or the fruits and veg they were consuming ended their season. Maybe they were simply eating what was available to them when it was available.

If we adopted this life of excess in moderation and followed this type of eating pattern (meat all day once or twice a week, fruit and veg all day once or twice a week and a day or 2 with minimal foods), what would the effect on us be?  Would it help our digestion? Would it help our gut bacteria? Or would it hinder us in life?

With how we eat now, is our digestion able to really handle the plethora of food and nutrients we’re consuming at each meal?

I’m not naive to the fact that times have changed a lot since this ancient time I’m referring to, but have humans really changed that much, physiologically speaking?

Maybe we not only need to change our eating patterns, maybe we need to include more game meat in our diet and move away from the commercially-produced products like Stuart from Tengeri Natural Fitness has written about here.

What is the answer??? I really don’t know! I just wanted to put it out there as it’s been on my mind a lot lately. I’m always questioning and wondering. I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Clint

 

5 things I’m grateful for today are:

1. Yesterday’s walk in Buderim Forest Park

2. A new playground I found to hang, swing and climb in

3. Being able to support great local businesses

4. Abundance of healthy food available to me

5. Getting better at handstands!

Our almost-totally-paleo meetup group camping trip!

One of our fave things is camping. We love it. We’d pack up and be permanent campers if we could! We have our dream 4×4/roof-top tent set up in our minds and it’s a very nice sight! And we’d love nothing more than to spend our days traveling all around Australia and exploring this amazing country.

But until that’s an option, we’ll settle for exploring the region we live in. And it certainly ain’t bad! The Sunny Coast is surrounded by varieties of scenery and camping options. Because we host the Sunshine Coast Paleo/Primal/Real Food Meetup Group we thought why not organise a meetup camping trip?! So we did!

Unfortunately out of all the members who initially said they were keen, very few could actually come the weekend we had to plan it for. But that’s ok, a few did come and it was a super fun weekend!

We headed to Kenilworth Homestead about an hour’s drive from the middle of the Sunny Coast. Clint and I took my mum along who hadn’t camped since she was a youngster. She was a bit apprehensive about it but she had a great time! We knew she’d enjoy a few days out in the country!

 

the view as we arrived at the camp ground

The other campers were .. a friend and her 2 boys, and a friend and workmate of Clint’s with her daughter. It was a great bunch of people; friendly, fun, open, not-afraid-of-nature which always helps when camping! The friend and her two kids hadn’t been camping before so it was great to share that new experience with them and they all seemed to have a really good time. So yay!

We’d decided to make it an almost-totally-paleo weekend, with the exception of beverages. Ie. alcohol! Clint and I enjoy drinking alcohol when we occasionally get to go camping and we knew mum would want to take some wine, while Clint’s colleague would have some alcoholic drinks with her too. So that was fine and we totally succeeded with the food side of things! Brekkie, lunch, dinner, snacks.. everything was paleo-friendly.

Here’s some pics of where we camped…

 

campsite set up and ready to go

mist over the hills

sun and mist rise together in the morning

the old homestead

dew on the web

 

It wasn’t only cool to have a weekend away, eating good food but not having to worry about how ‘crappy’ (literally!) you’re going to feel the days following. It was also great to be spending time out in the country, with gorgeous sunrises, misty mountain views, the smell of fresh air, green grass to play on, creeks to explore in, no computer and TV to create distraction, gorgeous sunsets and the smell of a camp fire going.

<sigh> bliss!

We definitely enjoyed eating well and here’s some pics of what we took along and created that weekend…

Clint gets the fire ready

brekkie day 2: free-range bacon, pastured eggs, goat cheese and avocado

local sweet and juicy pineapple, yum!

brekkie day 1: paleo-friendly wraps with bacon, egg and avocado

Egg-free wrap for Aimee’s mum, with tomato, bacon, avocado and goat cheese

getting coals ready for tonight’s camp oven dinner

love a crackling fire at night

and camp oven meals! roast chicken in one and veggies in the other, yay!

 

So the food so far looks alright hey! For lunch on the second day we actually ate paleo sausages and jaffa panna cotta!! Why not?! You can do that when you’re camping!

paleo sausages. so simple and so good

Apart from eating, which is obviously a great part of camping, there’s also plenty of time for fun, games, exploring, relaxing and we all did all of that!

Clint pretending to throw Georgia in the creek

Larissa taking time out to catch up on some reading

Clint slacklining. There wasn’t two suitable trees nearby so the bullbar came in handy!

Georgia practiced a lot and kept getting better and better

Now Larissa’s turn!

Exploring the creek nearby; skimming rocks, wading, walking… re-naturing!

Beautiful flower on a fierce-looking thistle plant along the riverbed

 

Just sitting, chilling, smiling.. how camping should be!

 

Magical sunset ending a fun second day

We did try and not have our phones on us 24/7 so there’s not a photo of every meal we had but they were all definitely paleo-friendly and delicious. Nothing beats a camp oven roast, tea and coffee using a billy over the fire, bacon and eggs cooked on a gas stove, good company, beautiful scenery and being surrounded by nature.

When was the last time you went camping?

Have you ever attempted to do it paleo? If you haven’t yet but want to, now you know it’s definitely do-able.

Tell us about your paleo camping trips, we’d love to hear from you!

Clint & Aimee

 

5 things we’re grateful for today:

1. the rain on the garden

2. going camping

3. good friends

4. healing gelatin

5. each other