Paleo and primal

[Daughteroughter]

I have been reading about paleo and primal diets has anyone tried them?

Favadi I don't think the mother in mind (the one banning sweets) is hugely insightful into how children tick - she is quite dogmatic and it is probably inevitable her children will kick back against her. I only have two with a sweet tooth. The biggest one self moderates the smallest one nicked a bar of chocolate from the garage today and scoffed the lot

I am enjoying a huge bowl of vegetable 'stew' for want of a better word - tomatoes, aubergines, celery, onion and pepper - delicious, and quite sweet in its own right.

I have been low carbing/eating more naturally the last few days and feel so much more positive. I can't decide whether it is the food itself, or whether I feel positive because I have managed to eat well. I think carbs just drag me down and leave me lethargic and feeling negative.

Does anyone do extensive exercise without carbs?

I can't decide whether it is the food itself, or whether I feel positive because I have managed to eat well.

Whichever way round, it is a positive and enjoyable experience in all its deliciousness. :) However difficult it is to think about how positive and good you feel (Guilt go away, please) and how much you might have spent on yourself (Guilt, why do you pester me?!), it is a positive experience, one to be proud of. Your family will share that thought too!

Eliza, I DID do a lot of exercise for about 4 years on low carb- including while pregnant with ds4 ... A mile in the pool or gym x 5 days a week, less than a hour per day but very high intensity. And dh too - low carb compared with the SAD diet but not "bootcamp" levels, probably about 100-150g a day, not a lot for that activity level. Typically I would have a banana and a barely white coffee after. We eat a lot of protein and fat. Once your body adjusts to eating less carb, more protein and fat, your blood sugar levels out and its not a problem to exercise with lower carbs.

Now with a toddler in tow (other DS's are teens), exercise has gone all to hell! Being generally active and walking and gardening but not quite the same... I miss my swimming.

I do loads of exercise - bootcamp and running 5 times a week and I manage just fine on a lower carb diet - I don't compete often though.

It's funny xenia that you refer to your desire to eating plainly as lucky - I was a fussy eater as a child - I ate very little and it felt miserable but I was later to discover that it was the plain food I was served that put me off eating, I love food, real food cooked from scratch with flavour turned up to max - Paleo can encompass us all though - the plain eaters and the adventurous palates, the atheletes and the non movers.

Perfectionism in diet is not something I will ever aspire to, but perfectionism in the food I cook is something I aim for in every meal we eat, I hate eating something dull just to fill a hunger gap. In our house every meal matters.

Isnt' that the point though? Those hoked on chocolate or sweets cannot imagine any of us liking (and I am not pretending) a raw carrot more? It is just a question of taste. The fact I don't want gorgeous meat ruined with gravy or sauce dose not mean I have a wrong type of palate. It just means I like the taste of the delicious original meat and I am lucky that that is so and I don't need it plastered in fake invented sauces or sugar glazes.

Xenia - I think you are very lucky to be able to source delicious cuts of meat and cook it properly because with plainly cooked food there is nowhere to hide but I love the mass of creativity around Paleo food - it keeps me interested, I simply can't eat the same kind of food on a daily basis and luckily the whole family feel the same way.

So menu for today

Breakfast Asparagus with poached eggs, butter and Parmesan - kids had a coconut flour muffin with theirs.
Lunch - will be a picky raid the fridge affair - or it might be stealing a few bowlfuls of the chilli I'll make this evening for tomorrow.
Dinner will be Turkey and courgette burgers with spring onion and cumin with a spicy carrot salad - might make it a BBQ.

Hope you're all cooking something delicious today!

There is a lot of scope for variety. In fact one African tribe apparently ate 750 different foods. I would imagine a lot of that was insects and leaves but it does illustrate how lack of variety in many people's diets probably means they miss out on a lot of good things although I am not suggesting get thee into thine garden to get 50 types of insects for Saturday lunch.

Today is grilled salmon for lunch with spinach and I do have brown basmati rice with wild rice.

I'm so disappointed. I was fancying something nice, preferably cake, so made brownies with ground almonds, coconut oil, cocoa, egg and coconut milk and honey and they were disgusting. I could bake something but only have flour now and am avoiding gluten. No chocolate in the house! No bananas either. I've no berries, but do have lots of rhubarb growing in the garden. Anyone have a crumble recipe without flour?

I cook rhubarb on low heat with no sugar and a splash of lemon/orange but a splash of water would do. An apple and/pear (plums are lovely too) can add some sweetness. Once cooked, you could use honey to adjust to your taste. I love it with cream but my family and friends enjoy it with home-made custard, as a sorbet/ice-cream or ice lollies.

Thanks favadi. Is it very sour without sugar? I've only ever stewed it with sugar before we became aware of the problems with sugar.

We're having Indian takeaway... I'm thinking either lamb chops or lamb tikka and mushroom bhajee and spinach bhajee. Di you think these are the best choices of a bad lot?
Had a dreadful day today, I've had a Big Mac... And then an upset belly :(

Had a bad day here yesterday, dd was starving so popped into mcd too, thought I'd have a quarter pounder and just eat the "meat" and cheese then discovered halfway through that it wasn't cooked and was pink in the middle. Yuk!

Today we've had salmon, ratatouille, asparagus and mushrooms.

Last time we had an Indian takeaway I just had chicken balti without rice or naan. It was lovely!

I tried stewing rhubarb today without sugar, just with a vanilla pod, and it was so sour! I added some brown sugar and served it with creme fraiche, delicious!

As long as I don't have it everyday, I am not so worried about sugar, I am more concerned about avoiding grains. I have used xylitol in the past, and I liked it, but it is quite expensive, so I stopped using it. I am now at a point where I use so little sugar that I have decided that when I have used up the brown sugar and golden granulated sugar in the cupboard it will be replaced with xylitol.

Speaking of using up, I did try to use up everything in the cupboard when I decided to start Paleo, but it went so well that I still have oats, vegetable oil suet and rye grains (from making sourdough rye bread) and I just can't bring myself to throw out perfectly good food! I am going to bin the half packs of pasta and noodles, though. What did you all do with your food when/if you emptied your cupboards? Am thinking of making bird food with rye seeds and vegetable oil suet for winter, but the birds in my garden are so picky, I can only get them to eat birds seed mixes with dried worms and only in winter! Unopened food with a long use by date will go to local food bank.

I agree, I'm avoiding wheat completely now. I'm trying to introduce a little dairy again to allow me to vary our meals more. I'm trying not to get too hung up about a little sugar though.

When it comes to chocolate brownies, chocolate cake, chocolate ice cream or chocolate cookies, I only go for recipes with a high percentage of dark chocolate.....most of the American recipes only include cocoa powder which in my experience fails to deliver on chocolate flavour.

Made marmalade and choc chip ice cream today with choc orange wafers - no idea what wafers are in American but they were not light and crispy. Still the marmalade ice cream was a real treat, not Paleo but gluten free and that's our sunday pudding rule....think it might be choc ice cream next week.

You guys must spend all day cooking! Some of this stuff sounds amazing.

Snow I think the cocoa powder was the problem. It just tasted of slightly chocolatey almonds!

Thebest this is the only American recipe that comes close. I substituted 85% cocoa rather than the mint choc version she mentions. I always taste the raw mixture now for flavour and sweetness as many bloggers seem to live on another culinary planet to me. Under cook rather than over cook - over cooked brownies are too dry and can only be consumed when warmed and served with cream - tis the law!

Forgot to mention we started our feast today with medjool dates wrapped in smoky bacon and baked till crispy - we only had one each but they were delightful and unusual combination - original recipe suggested putting an almond in the centre of the date but we have nut issues in our house so I avoided.

Thebestpossible, for those "I really want a chocolate cake/something sweet" moments, here are a couple of very simple ideas.

Melt a couple of squares of 85% choc in a small bowl and roll 2 or 3 natural dates in it, pop on some grease proof paper and leave to set. The taste/texture is lovely, and a couple are enough! Works well with pecans too, great "treat" to serve with coffee.

Also, baked apples or pears (with lots of cinnamon), and a teaspoon of honey if you wish.

I have loads of rhubarb in the garden, not being very successful using it with no sugar, although raw the youngest stalks are quite nice! I am thinking of growing stevia plants, just to use with the rhubarb... But can't find them locally (seeds I can buy, fine for next year), I thought I could dry the leaves in the dehydrator I'm planning to get.
Has anyone grown their own stevia? For now, I'm going to buy some natural dried leaves (the supermarket stevia is full of crap).

I agree with others recent posts- sugar may not be great (like all carbs), especially in excess, but gluten/grains are the dietary "root of all evil" IMO!

Personally I think some sugar (but a tiny amount compared with the standard awful diet), is fine, but not daily and with every meal. Unlike grains, sugar (honey, sweet fruits) has been a natural part of the human diet for millions of years. It would not have been daily tho!

For baked apples etc, if adding sugar at all, I use raw honey, added when I serve it, so its still raw (aldi does 10+active Manuka for a very good price).

The longer you eat this woe, the less often you will need/want to eat "cake"
And the less you will need to satisfy that urge, honest!

And for home made choc treats, yy to high cocoa content- make sure you use 100% cocoa powder with no sugar added, and enough to give you a strong cocoa flavour .

snow, on the previous page you describe roasted seeds from butternut squash, how did you make them? I have often been sad to put the seeds in my compost, I keep thinking I should somehow eat them! That's another thing I like about Paleo, that everything gets used.

Thanks Raw, dates dipped in melted chocolate sound lovely, could do that with strawberries too! Next weekend .....

I opted for a quick trip to the local garage in the end yesterday where I bought some Kettle Chips and (funnily enough) some dates to nibble which satisfied my craving for something.

Raw love the choc medijool dates idea - will definitely give that one ago.

Misscp I just removed the flesh from the seeds and spread them out on a baking tray - then baked them at around 160C and checking every 5mins - when they dried I tasted them for a toasted flavour rather than waiting till they browned.

It's funny how the kid's tastes change as we gradually remove more and more processed food from their diet. Previously they wouldn't have touched Kallo puffed rice - their choice would have been Rice Krispies but now puffed rice is a treat. They have also rediscovered their love of dried fruit - this time last year they wouldn't even touch it in a hot cross bun.

Adults in the house are fasting till dinner time today, kids were divided this morning - one had banana porridge with double cream and the other had smoked bacon.

Lunchbox was lovely leftovers - turkey burgers and spicy carrot salad and a paleo banana muffin from the freezer.

I've just thrown dinner into the slow cooker - a beef chilli from Everyday Paleo. The smell of a chilli cooking all day on a fast day might just kill me!

85% Choc-dipped fruit is good- and a great thing to serve to guests as they will not realise its a healthy alternative to most deserts (it's a luxury treat!), but good dates (medool or similar) in 85%choc is something else- actually quite "brownie" like. Very sweet so small amount, one or two, really is enough.

Snow, Dh was drooling at your suggestion of dates roast in bacon! Will have to give that a try, probably with a pecan or walnut inside.