The new Paleo/Primal thread - please reintroduce yourself, newcomers welcome!

[misscph1973]

Wow, we got to 1000 messages!

Welcome back from the previous thread and welcome to all new!

I have been Paleo since September last year, I started as an ex-vegetarian/vegan, I wanted to give up gluten and I had been doing 5:2/IF, which lead me to Paleo/primal. I am 40, I have 2 kids age 8 and 6. I have no major health issues, but I would like it to stay that way. I have bad skin, which has improved since starting Paleo and my dandruff has disappeared. I have gained some weight since starting Paleo, but I was not overweight before, although I would like to get back on my pre Paleo weight - I just love Paleo mayonnaise too much ;) I still practice IF and I lift weights 2-3 times per week. My family is also Paleo.

I have just come back from a camping weekend where I was not strict Paleo as I was camping with other families and I just didn't want to spend my entire weekend telling my kids "no, you cant have it". I do think that Paleo camping is entirely possible, think tinned fish, nuts, sausages, eggs etc.

[snoworneahva]

Thanks giraffe, I regret not buying the vitamix too. My Magimix blender is too lightweight, I get frustrated using it, it was bought to relieve the pressure on the magimix food processor which is used constantly.

[FavadiCacao]

Bacon recipe is here :)

[FavadiCacao]

I had enough cherries to make to types of ice-cream: Mascarpone based and yogurt based.

Creamy Cherry/Berry and Mascarpone ice-cream

Ingredients:

250g Mascarpone
150ml Cream
2 tbs honey (or to taste)
2tbs rose water
200g cherries (stoned and pureed)/berries

Method:

1. Beat cream and Mascarpone together-it will form a stiff cream.
   
2. add rose water and cherries
   
3. Sweeten to taste
   
4. Scoop into ice lollies moulds and freeze; place in freezer and take out every half hour to beat until set; place in fridge for a softer scoop.
   
   I have done 4 huge lollies in the freezer and 4 ice-cream glasses in the fridge.
   
   Variation:
   Instead of cherries/berries, just add 1 more tbs of rose water.
   
   Home-made Rose Water
   Place rose petals (5-6 large fully opened roses) in 150ml of boiling; cool down at room tmp; place in fridge 8-12.
   
   
   Light Cherry/Berry and Yogurt ice cream
   
   Ingredients:
   
   250g Yogurt
   150ml cream (can use 250ml for richer taste)
   2 eggs (separated)
   2 tbs honey
   200g cherries (stone and pureed)/berries
   
   Method
   
5. whip egg white with 1/2 tbs of honey and set aside
   
6. whip cream with remaing honey
   
7. fold egg whites and cream together
   
8. mix cherries, yogurt and eggs until well blended.
   
9. fold the cherry mix into the cream mix until fully incorporated.
   
10. place in freezer and remove every 1/2 hour to beat until set (4hr)
    
    This one would be best served on the day any left over are best frozen in ice lollies moulds.

[FavadiCacao]

giraffe It might be worthwhile adding some probiotics (mininmum 1 billion viability). Here is an interesting thread on Mark's forum.

snow I hope the queue isn't too long. :(

[snoworneahva]

I'm liking the look of those ice cream recipes - the dcs oddly love rose flavoured Turkish delight...I'm sure the ice cream would be very well received too.

Challenge time! Part of the whole healing process for autoimmune is eating organ meats - but I'm determined but a bit squeamish. So, do you eat offal? If so what recipes would you recommend for an offal newbie. I remember hating liver as a kid - but then I hated most foods I eat now. And I've tried tripe with milk and onions when in Cork last year and that wasn't a great success.

Just got some beef shanks to make a Korean BBQ dish - I'll be eating the marrow in the bone - hopefully that will be a good start.

[FavadiCacao]

Dh and I love liver in orange.

Ingredients

200g Liver
butter -enough to cook with
1 orange freshly squeezed
seasoning
a few chopped chives

Method

The thin skin around the liver is what makes it chewy, so I first remove the skin and then I slice it into thin pieces.

Heat a frying pan, when hot add butter, liver and seasoning. When liver is sealed (1 to 2 mins) add a little orange juice at a time (wait for it to almost disappear before adding some more). Stop adding orange juice when only a couple of spoon are left. Let the liver caramelise a bit and then the chives and the last bit orange juice and cook for further 30 sec.

Lovely with spinach and mushrooms.

[GiraffesEatPineapples]

Thanks fava I will check that link :)

Snow - you can do it! I think chicken liver is supposed to be one of the milder ones. I made this last week and it was my first proper try at offal hillarystarbright.wordpress.com/2012/04/23/going-paleo-this-is-the-best-liver-recipe-ever/ I think cutting it up pretty small and having a forkful with a bit of the mushroom or bacon is key Misscph mentioned a pate which sounded good too. I felt pleasently full after, ordering some next week.

I booked dd for her 1st mmr today and they gave me a same day appointment (she is 2 and a half - we waited deliberately) going to have to wake her up and take her in a minute, some lollipop treatment afterwards I think - maybe for both of us ;).

[FavadiCacao]

Thanks giraffe I was about to post a similar recipe. If using home-made bacon you really don't need any herbs or seasoning.

Kidney is lovely stewed in white wine, onionsand parsley, where you can also add different cuts of meat (steak and kidney! )

My grandma used to add mince heart to meat balls and ragu' but I haven't tried.

[misscph1973]

Liver: Make a liver pate by throwing 500 g liver, 2 eggs, a pack of butter, an onion and salt and pepper in the food processor. Pour into ramekins / muffin cases / whatever you got and bake for 20 min. Fabulous with bacon and mushrooms! My kids love it.

Just realised you can't have eggs on the AIP - sorry! Hearts are quite nice, actually, calf's hearts are less offensive in my opinion. They can be used in stews.

I need help - I have swapped the biscuits for almonds when I have a cup of tea, but I really need something with a carb/calorie content like a celery stick ;) These almonds are my "domino foods" - can't stop, and they are too high in calories/fat for me (well for my bum!). I need crunch!

[marzipananimal]

my burger recipe: 500g minced pork, 1 smallish cooking apple, 1 smallish onion, 1 egg, sage (though I didn't have any), seasoning.
Grate the apple and finely chop the onion, mix with your hands with the pork, egg and sage. Mould into 6 burgers and fry for 7-8 mins on each side.

[GiraffesEatPineapples]

DD was fine covered in stickers now!

They sound good marzipanimal

Misscph I was mainlining nuts and nut butters before whole 30 and your post has made me realise I have been having tea without a snack I hadn't thought about it in ages. What about sweet potato crisps or still fattening and dairy but low carb - baked parmesan crisps? Otherwise carrot sticks

[FavadiCacao]

miss Changing habits is hard and so some of us need to make little steps.
You could try making some crackers and dips. Crackers are addictive but with dips, you spread (ah!ah!) the time and you get way to full to domino eat, avocado and pate work really well.
Olives and tea/coffee don't mix that well, so you tend to leave one or the other!
Maybe changing the drink of choice might help with changing habits?! I can't imagine Peppermint or nettle teas tasting that good with almonds.

marzipan I'm looking forward to making some, thank you. :)

giraffe glad dd is fine. :)

Mascarpone lollies went down a treat and as the mousse in the fridge was not setting I made more lollies. They are super filling, so the yogurt ice cream is going to become lollies too. :)

[GiraffesEatPineapples]

actually, my last post was a bit misleading - I have had snacks, found the 3 meal thing really hard, just not with my tea Also I was having nuts when I started w30 and on one occasion had an entire M&S luxury roasted nut assortment as my lunch... think nuts might be one of those all or nothing things for me.

[snoworneahva]

Had some great food this evening - Korean barbecue Osso Buco cheap, easy and the best thing I have tasted this year - impressive enough I think to serve if you are entertaining, kids liked it too. We served it with celeriac mash and springs green - drool! We will make it again and again!

And the second thing, I came up with a treat for the dcs.

2 medijool dates mashed up with a satchel of coconut cream (50g), i used the pestle and mortor, add a heaped teaspoon of ground cinnamon. Roll into balls and coat with chocolate. Very easy and according to them, very tasty, I'm still on a chocolate embargo.

Thank you for the offal recipes, I will be trying them out - does anyone do liver with beetroot?

[snoworneahva]

Pufflemum welcome back to the new thread! I generally use recipes from Paleo blogs. I have a few of their cookbooks, probably use "Paleo Comfort foods" more than most but I am having a thing with southern American cooking atm. There's not much in the way of British blogging or British Paleo Recipe books. I go through all my standard cookbooks and thumb down the recipes that will convert easily, and that will keep me interested - I am always after a new taste. Word of warning - don't buy a cookbook co-written with a doctor - the food will be dull and worthy....unless that's the kind of food you like!

[GiraffesEatPineapples]

Pufflemum I am sort of in the same boat would like a book but so many to choose from. There are none in the libraries either. I keep reading about 21 day sugar solution I think it is an e book but that might be one way to lose a few stubborn lbs before hol. The blogs are pretty useful though.

def a gap in the market for an English book!

[FavadiCacao]

I rarely cook from cook books but it's easy enough to remove offending ingredients form books I already own.
My problem is I love Chinese and Thai cuisine too, but I rarely eat anything sweet and I don't do soy. I miss Teryaki sauce too- initially I would occasionally make a vague form of it at home, using Tamari, xylitol and sake- but it's essentially grains, legume and sugar!

I'm finding that I cook mainly Indian (no rice) and Italian dishes, with the occasional Thai or Chinese. Recently, ds has been fancying some SAD foods, so I've been trawling the net to find recipes that work and writing them down (as it happens in a little black book )

[hopefulgum]

HI. I have been paleo for about a year. I started by doing the "Whole 30" which had me feeling so healthy, so I have tried to stick to paleo since. Unfortunately I have recently fallen right off the wagon and need to get back on. I am a teacher and have had a hard term (I'm Australian) and when I get tired I get lazy with food and find it hard to resist sugar. I do a yoga class three times a week (and I consider it as good as doing weights as I have to hold up the weight of my body ) and swim twice a week.

Anyway, lately I have tried to stick to Paleo, but can't seem to find a quick and easy breakfast, so have resorted to gluten free toast. I'd love some suggestions for easy breakfasts that don't take up too much time.

I am going on holiday on Saturday for a couple of weeks in Bali, but I don't think it will be a problem to stick to Paleo with loads of vegies and meat in stir fries etc. I can easily say no to rice.

It will be nice to hear what other's are eating, especially with a family as convincing my kids to give up bread is proving impossible.

[hopefulgum]

Oh, I forgot to say, one of the reasons breakfast is tricky is because I don't like eggs very much. Since I was a kid eggs make me feel sick.The weird thing is I can happily eat them in a cake,pancakes,custard etc (though not now as I don't eat dairy). I am not sure if it is a psychosomatic thing or whether I have an intolerance - I do have a gluten intolerance).

[FavadiCacao]

Welcome back aboard, hopefulgum. :)

Given your schedule and stress I would suggest to cook and extra portion at dinner time to have for breakfast.

Avocado takes second to mash with a fork and can be a quick substitute to mayonnaise to go with tuna, prawns, bacon. BLT a la paleo (no bread). Berries and cream (coconut or normal).

[GiraffesEatPineapples]

Hi Hopefulgum - I think fav is right, preperation the night before with some leftover coldcuts is a good idea - either that or if your in sleeping well and in good health skip bfast occasionally and say you're fasting ;) Tinned mackerel in e v olive oil with a microwaved sweet potao and, if you can get any, good samphire that can be eaten raw is one of my favourites. Nuts and fruit might be ok but would make me more hungry in the long run. I have been giving the children porridge or gluten free bread with eggs and the homemade bread is beginning to really tempt me - stayed away so far.

Fava I would buy it - some of the food you and others like snow post make my mouth water! I can see it now the mumsnetters little black paleo book ;)

Really should get on with housework now - snore.

[FavadiCacao]

The Little Black Book: Paleo Saucy Secrets I like your think Giraffe

Maybe we could do summary posts of our favourite recipes, links. I wish I knew how to create a web page where we could post links and guest recipes!

[FavadiCacao]

[think]=[thinking] Clearly, I couldn't be the editor!

[snoworneahva]

Think breakfast is always a tricky one because we have become so conditioned into eating cereal. Leftovers are great. Have made Paleo gingerbread muffins from the health bent cook book for the kids, they loved them. Paleo pancakes freeze well - 3 bananas, 1/2 cup almond butter, 3 eggs, 1tbsp cinnamon - all whizzed up in the food processor. You could make up some breakfast sausage and have it cold with Paleo ketchup.

My kids are gradually coming around to my way of thinking - even dd who now feeds her friends dates and raw honey, like she's some kind of risky food adventurer. [Grin] Six months ago she wouldn't touch dried fruit or honey (she ate both as a toddler) And yesterday she gave in to coconut cream and really liked it. I have to be careful not to push them too hard, when I hear sounds of rebellion I back down. Paleo isn't so important as to cause disruption to household harmony.

Maybe we need a Paleo recipe thread?

[GiraffesEatPineapples]

Fava

It's a shame facebook doesn't have an annonymous function we could set up a group and post pictures of recipes as well on there. A recipe thread on here might be the easiest option though..