Your Guide to Paleo Cooking

The blogosphere is filled with people who are passionate about their health, fitness and food. But in the niche segment of the paleo lifestyle, there are tons of brilliant and knowledgeable people contributing to a flourishing community. Everyone is here to interact, share and learn (with varying degrees of each). And while we may only know each other by our online personas this is the first time I have ever truly felt part of a tribe. Our common interests bond us, and being able to share my experiences and relate to others has peeked my interest in the field of health and nutrition. 

It’s great to talk about the more popular bloggers such as Mark Sisson or Robb Wolf, the latter of which got me turned on to the paleo diet. But the community has much more depth than that. As I dive deeper into this subculture, I am continuously finding everyday people doing spectacular things. Over the past few months I have been fortunate enough to interact some of these great people. 

One such blogger in the paleo community is Sébastien Noël over at Paleo Lifestyle Diet. Sébastien is a gifted writer, but where he really shines are his recipes. A few weeks ago, I was given a copy of his newly released eBook to review, and I must say that I am very impressed. I have a ton of cookbooks, but this was my first electronic cookbook. I was a little intimidated, because the PDF is 395 pages - that's a lot of recipes. I thought about going to staples to print out a copy, but a color copy of his recipe book would have been over $200 (c’mon staples).

Don’t Be Afraid of the eBook
Usually, while reading, I like things printed and in my hands, but having an online version makes the recipe book very searchable. It is easy to reference and browse recipes. I just typed in what food I had and the search showed me all the recipes containing my ingredient. In addition, Sébastien did a great job with the organization; the book is broken down by category and really well layed out. The design of the PDF is clean, easy to read, and aesthetically pleasing.

As far as taste goes, I'm not sure I could speak any higher of Sébastien. I made his Beanless Texas Style Chili that blows away Mark Sisson's Bison Chili. The great thing about his recipes is that they are simple. Most have less than 10 ingredients and he doesn't use anything that you'll have to find at an uber fancy grocery store. The combination of spices just work.

I also tried his Pork Chops with Apple and Onions and his Guacamole recipe both with success. But the one that really won over me over was his Baked Salmon with Asparagus and Roasted Beets. My mom made this the other night, and the salmon was so tasty my dad could not stop taking about it. The fish was so moist it almost melted in your mouth, and the asparagus was perfectly crispy. The beets came out a little undercooked, but the rest of the meal made up for that. I will definitely be cooking that again.

Just Try It
All in all, my family and I have loved cooking with Sébastien's recipes. He makes them very easy and approachable, but that doesn't mean they lack flavor. Check out his website where he has a ton of free recipes to try like Sweet Potato And Sausage Soup, Spicy Pulled Pork, Kale Chips, and a ton more. If you like what you see then take a look at his eBook where he compiles over 350 recipes, as well as cooking tips, a meal plan, and an herbs and spices guide (that is beautifully designed). Sébastien is doing great work over at his blog, so I am happy to recommend his recipes. They are simply delicious.

A Sleep Aid that Works... Too Well

I'll Have What He Had

I don't know about you, but I tend to get giddy when trying new supplements. I suppose it's because I don't know what to expect until I try it. I'm not sure how my body will react. My body is the experiment, but I am also the scientist. I am the guinea pig and the administrator. I'll gladly put my body on the line for the sake of myself. Will it work? Will I feel anything? Any hardcore drug user would laugh at the thought of tinkering with your calcium levels, but that's exciting enough for me.

For this experiment, I decided to try Magnesium Citrate. It was recommended by Robb Wolf (author of The Paleo Solution) as a way to balance out your calcium and magnesium levels, and as an added bonus, it puts you to sleep faster than Diane Rehm reading you a bed time story. I found Natural Calm, by Terry Gillham in the supplement isles of Whole Foods. It was roughly twenty dollars for a container. I opted for the un-flavored variety.

Day 1
After twisting the cap, a burst of white powder fills the air. It smells citrusy. I want to know more. I measure one teaspoon and mix it into a glass of hot water. To my delight, it fizzles and cracks as the white powder diffuses into the water. Here is goes; I take a sip. Not too bad. It tastes like lemon tea. 

I sit back on my bed and continue to read more of "The Hitchhicker's Guide to the Galaxy." As I turn the pages, I begin to feel eerily at ease. A slight numbing sensation envelopes my body. It's similar to the feeling of playing outside in the snow and then going inside to sip hot chocolate by the fire. It is oddly comforting, and initially I am enthralled by it. Success! I think to myself, and moments later I am passed out in my bed.

Day 2-14
I continued to use the product and my sleep was fantastic. I even wrote a post after waking up a 6am, which I never do, wide awake and ready for the day. But that day was an anomaly, and I could not repeat the success of waking up in the morning feeling so refreshed. Not only that, but I was beginning to feel a little more relaxed during the day. All day long. I am normally a low-key person. It takes a lot to get me excited, and this supplement was making me even more relaxed. I suppose I should have seen this coming. It does claim to be an anti-stress drink.

Conclusion
I welcome relaxation, especially when I am prone to anxiety, but this was too much. My mind felt slow. I was lethargic. Words were hard to find, and I just felt generally off. But my sleep was excellent. Was it worth sacrificing my waking life for quality time spent in the sheets? Heck no.

Ultimately I did not want that trade off. Magnesium supplement works - maybe too well - at relaxing your body and your mind. I would rather have marginally worse sleep and still have an active mind then vice versa. But all is fair in experimentation. My goal was to try it out. I wanted to know if it would work for me as it did for others. My results seem uncommon, and through research I was unable to find results like mine (where someone feels mentally dull as a result of Magnesium). But now you have at least one documented case.

This is not meant to scare you from trying it. I offer my findings, so that you may better inform yourself when looking to Magnesium as a sleep aid. I've tried a lot of different things to get better sleep, but the one that works the best: a pitch black room. I'd like to see GNC try to put that in a store.

Review of Mark Sisson's Bison Chili

It's Game Time
Every winter, recipes for chili litter the internet. Teasing and taunting people to choose themas the recipe for a holiday or Super Bowl party. Chili is a crowd favorite, because it's so easy, and it's usually pretty cheap. The latest recipe taunting me was from Mark Sisson's “The Primal Blueprint Cookbook” and was simply named “Bison Chili”.

Mark runs a wildly popular blog about primal eating (similar to paleo), and this book was made from the contributions of his devoted readers. With food all-stars like bison, cocoa powder, and everyone’s favorite - bacon, I had high expectations for the recipe. I didn't mind the hour that it took to prepare. Nor did I mind the hour it simmered in the crockpot, because I thought it would be worth the wait. 

Missing the Mark 
This recipe let me down on multiple fronts: the carrots were still crunchy, the consistency was watery, and somehow the bacon was underwhelming. - I could hardly taste it. It smelled like a dish caught between a stew and a chili. Unable to choose a side it didn’t satisfy either craving. Also, the proportions were uneven for my taste. A surplus of meat overwhelmed the other ingredients. The carrots were sparse and overshadowed by mountains of ground bison; it was a vegetarian’s nightmare.

The worst part was not the disproportion of meat but was the combination of spices. In the cook book, he describes this chili as "not very spicy” – which is true. Although, bland is a more accurate adjective. The spices did not complement each other well. Paprika is a favorite spice of mine, and a trusty companion for chili, but the rest of the spices do nothing for the dish. Most of all, I am disappointed in the cocoa powder. It adds nothing to the complexity of the dish except a bitter after taste.

Cognitive Dissonance 
Don't get me wrong, I'll finish the 3lbs of chili that this recipe made, but I will not make it again. There are too many other good chili recipes to try. Even ones that aren't quite “paleo” can be altered. It's as simple as subtracting the beans from most recipes.

Did I choose the wrong cookbook this Christmas? I figured this book would keep my diet in check, but, I didn't want to sacrifice taste. Maybe I would be better off finding more recognized recipes and substituting. Maybe those physicians had it right when they chose this book as one of the worst cookbooks of 2010.

There are Always Alternatives
This was the first recipe I tried of his, so I can't be too harsh. After all, this blogger really seemed to like it, as did the reviewers on Amazon. Perhaps, there are other redeeming recipes in his book. I'll give it another shot, but this was not a good first impression. If that was my introduction to a paleo/primal meal, I would never be going back for seconds.

For a quick and tasty chili alternative try this one from allrecipes.com it uses salsa as the tomato base, which is genius, so you don't have to chop a ton of vegetables. It’s simple, cheap, and delicious.

If Willy Wonka Could Make Vegetables

Umpa, Lumpa, Dippity-dee

When I saw this striking vegetable in the supermarket, I wondered how it managed to hide from me all these years. Maybe it was more me hiding from them. But now that I am exploring vegetables these leafs screamed "Look at me!" I'm a sucker for color; I had to grab a bunch. But how should I prepare them?

I found a delicious and easy recipe for swiss chard from a YouTube channel called Hungry in Brooklyn. The video itself was nicely edited, and I would have believed it if she said this was a new web series for the cooking or travel channel.

In her video, Shea Hess talks to a Chef and a famer to find out some tips on this psychedelic vegetable. Here are a few things to know about swiss chard:

- It is pronounced CHard like Chocolate
- Leafy vegetable similar to spinach
- Member of the beet family
- Spring/fall are the best times to buy

Here is the recipe she used:

Sautéed Swiss Chard with Shallots and Garlic

Strip leaves from the rib (stem)

Cut off ends of rib

Cut the ribs into small 1/4in pieces

Chop 2 shallots

Chop 2 cloves of garlic

2 tbs of olive oil

1/4 cup of white wine

1 tbs of butter

Directions:

Toss olive oil, Chard ribs, shallots, and garlic into pan

Add a little salt

Add the leafs of chard (blanch two minutes before hand)

Add white wine

Cook it down, so the alcohol evaporates

Add butter

The recipe was a little time consuming, only because she says you should blanch the vegetables to reduce bitterness and to prevent burning. Total time to cook was about 25 minutes, but the results were fantastic. Not only were the colors bright and vibrant, but it tasted phenomenal. The center rib from the chard gave the dish a crunchy dimension, and the leaves tasted like a wonderful shade of spinach.  

It was an excellent side dish to steak. The crispy outside of the steak and the crunchy ribs were a good pairing. Also, if you’re looking for a dish to give your dinner a little liveliness, then chard is the way to go. It looks like something out of the Willy Wonka factory, but it tastes so much better.

One thing to note if you are having company or want left overs: the leaves cook down a lot, and I was left wanting more. A whole bunch of chard easily boiled down to about two cups. This was fine for me, but if you’re having guests, or you want to have left overs I would recommend cooking two bunches. 

Check out more of Hungry in Brooklyn’s videos here:

http://www.youtube.com/user/hungryinbrooklyn

Walk Like a Ninja for $30

In the wake of Vibram Five Fingers' (dare I say) popularity, there have been plenty of companies eager to jump on the minimalist footwear bandwagon. Big players like Nike and Mizuno were quick to get in the game, and just about everyone nowadays seems to have there own minimalist running shoe. But what's really nice to see are smaller companies giving it a go.

A Sneaky Design
Zem is a company based out of Miami, Florida that is crafting shoes primarily for indoor use (yoga, pilates). Their shoes are lightweight and give the user lots of flexibility, which is important when your bending yourself into a pretzel. What I like most about them are the looks. They are almost a cross between Adidas Sambas (a classic from my soccer days), and a ninja shoe (called "Tabi"). Most other shoes I have seen with the big toe split out look horribly awkward. Take a look at this website for proof. Yet, somehow the Zem's manage to look a little more "normal." Perhaps it's the neon colored stripes that decorate the side of the shoe, which offer a good distraction from the strange camel toe. Even with these playful colors, I would order the black with black stripes, because I don't want my feet to look like light up billboards. Don't get me wrong it's a clever marketing technique; it's just not my style. The Zem's are pretty slick, but I already have a pair of minimalist running shoes. Do I really need another pair?

Do You Really Need Another Pair of "Barefoot" Shoes?
My Bikilas cost $100 (20 less than my Saucony's - which I can't stand to wear), and I have worn them an insane amount more than any other running sneaker I've ever owned. They remind me of running barefoot as a kid; how I can tread softly and gracefully. They were definitely worth the money. In comparison, the Zem's are only $30, which is an interesting price point. As a small company, it's a good idea to differentiate themselves from Vibram, because competing head to head with them would be a challenge.

Conclusion
All in all, they look cool and the price is great, but I don't think I have a use for them. I do pilates occasionally, and I haven't done yoga since Fall. I would really only need them for running, and I have a great pair for that exact purpose. Zem's blog claims they have a running shoe, but I was unable to find it in their store. Even if I could find it, I would be concerned. How great can a running shoe be for $30? We are so conditioned to see running shoes anywhere from $80 and up how can Zem manage to seem credible at a $30 price point? They only way I see that they could compete for credibility in the running industry is to raise the price a little. But then they have to make sure they add value to the shoe, so customers don't feel ripped off. It's a delicate issue. Bottom line: they look like sweet ninja shoes, but I just don't have a use for them yet. If you do yoga or pilates consistently then you might want to check them out, but I have concerns about the durability and quality of a $30 running shoe.

One more thing, apologies if this comes of as harsh, but I hate when shoe companies don't provide enough angles of the product. How do they expect people to buy a shoe when the only see it from one side! Get a clue from Zappos. They have been doing it right for years, and now they just added videos to most of their shoes. Genius.

For further research on Zem's shoes look at:

• Barefootrunningshoes.org - Zem's First Impressions - Great pictures and video to see what the product actually looks like. From Zem's website it is hard to tell that they are so flexible. 
• GoBarefooting - Zem Product Review - Was sent a few pairs of Zem's to review for his blog
• Birthdayshoes.com - Alternatives to Vibrams Forum
• GoogleGroups - Zem Discussion
• or Follow them @Zemgear

Testing out the Nesco FD-75PR Food Dehydrator

My first test run with the Nesco Food Dehydrator (thanks Mom Santa) was a success. I sliced some pears that our family received for Christmas. They were from Harry & David, and they in the most ridiculous packaging ever. Imagine a treasure chest with a secret compartment in the bottom. It was pretty impressive.

The preparation for dehydrating was easy. I cut the pears into 3/8in slices and tossed them on the drying racks. They also recommend that you toss the fruit in a solution to avoid excess oxidation and loss of nutrients, but I didn't do it (tisk tisk).

For fruit, it explains to set the dial at 135 degrees - great. But for how long? The directions say "5-16 hours" - no joke. I ended up leaving them in over night, because I didn't feel like waking up at 4am to turn off my Food Dehydrator. I guess that's what I get for purchasing one without a timer.

The dried pears themselves were delicious. They weren't perfect by any means, and I could definitely take a couple hours off the drying time. But they were sweet and tasty. I placed them in a plastic zip-lock, and they lasted a week before my family ate them all.

Tonight, I decided to give mangoes a shot. Mangoes are delicious, and they happen to be my Dad's favorite. So, I decided to make him a treat. First, I had to watch a video to see how to properly cut a mango (thank YouTube). In this video, Chef Allen Susser does a great job explaining concisely how to select and cut a mango. Again, the preparation is easy just slice and place (solution is not recommended for mangoes). Now, I play the waiting game.

All in all, I've been happy with my Nesco Food Dehydrator. It is simple (no on/off switch or timer), easy to clean, and it can hold a heck of a lot of food (with four or five racks). It will take some time, and also trial and error to get the hang for how long to dehydrate certain foods. I figure it will kind of be like using a microwave for the first time. At first, you go by the directions on how long to cook your food. Then, after you've had enough use with the product you just get an idea of how long a food will need based on it's temperature and density. Which means... more experiments!

Why Kashi isn't as "Heart-Healthy" as you Think

1-2 cups Kashi Heart to Heart Cereal
1-2 cups of Milk (usually 1%)
Handful of Walnuts
Mix and Enjoy

This is what my breakfast looked like nine times out of ten for the past decade or more. I grew up eating a lot of cereal as a kid, and I continued into adult hood. I remember having so many boxes of cereal that my brother and I would build cereal fortresses (even though we were sitting besides each other). Then we would spend the next half an hour or more reading the boxes, doing crossword puzzles and finishing mazes. We turned it cereal into an event!

For me, cereal at breakfast was as traditional as a lasagna on Thanksgiving (c'mon - were Italian). I didn't just eat it for breakfast though, because it was equally as good as a snack, post work out meal, or even dinner if I didn't feel like cooking. It's so easy to prepare, and you can feel good about eating it because it's healthy, right?

That's what I thought, until I read Robb Wolf's book "The Paleo Solution." His book is based on what our hunter/gatherer ancestors used to eat BEFORE the advent of agriculture. Numerous studies show the effect of grains, dairy, and legumes as being gut irritants, and that once these foods were adapted into our diet they had a profound effect on the health of our ancestors. I'd like to point you to a great article written by Robb who explains the idea much better than I can.

NorCal Nutrition: Are We Crazy?

All this to say that I haven't had a bowl of cereal for a month and a half (as long as I've been on the paleo diet). I don't really crave it anymore, but sometimes I do wish breakfast was easy again. No more cereal, and no more shakes. Cooking isn't hard; it's just time consuming. But, the positives definitely out way the negatives, and I know that I am putting excellent fuel into my body, so I can look, feel and perform at my best.

Also, here is a great review of Robb's book at the blog Modern Paleo.