Fresh Paleo Food In Seattle

This is an awesome resource for anyone looking for a good Paleo meal in the Seattle area. There are some helpful tools and reviews for many restaurants. Maybe you will be inspired to try a new place for dinner! A good Paleo dinner that I don't have to cook is reason enough for me to put on a dress and some high heals and go out on the town! Enjoy.

 

Fresh Stir Fry

I love a good stir fry. It is so easy to make and always delicious. You can fine tune it to anyone's tastes and you can toss in anything you have on hand. Below you will find a rough outline of ingredients I used in my stir fry, but you can easily substitute ingredients for whatever you like.

Fresh Stir Fry
2 Chicken Breasts
1 T Coconut Oil
Spaghetti Squash (this will be your "noodles")
Handful of Celery Stalks
4 Eggs
Broccoli
Red and Orange Peppers
Liquid Aminos (gluten free option for soy sauce)

Using these directions, prepare you spaghetti squash.

While the spaghetti squash is cooking, cut chicken into cubes and cook in a frying pan (or wok) using a little coconut oil. Add salt and aminos to taste and cook thoroughly.

Scramble eggs.

Cut up broccoli into small florets. Boil an inch of water. Add broccoli to water and cover. Cook for 3 min. Drain water.

Cut celery, and peppers into small pieces.

Once the squash is ready add all ingredients to frying pan (or wok). Cook for a min or two until all the ingredients are warmed.  Add aminos to taste, serve and enjoy!

Fresh Egg Trick

Do you love hard boiled eggs, but hate peeling them? Me too! Check out this video on how to get the shell off your egg without peeling them. That's right- no peeling. In a Paleo Lovers world, this could be revolutionary! Enjoy.

Nutritional Teeter-Totter

Check out this great video from CrossFit Journal. It gives an excellent explination of the basics of our nutritional choices. Our goal is to balance out the teeter-totter inside our bodies for a balanced and healthy life. Then we will see improvements physically and at the gym. Yahoo- PR's in every area! :)

Dry Rub

My friend from the gym used this dry rub for a pulled pork recipe and it was super tasty! He made this for his ribs, but used it in on a roast he cooked in his crockpot. We added the pulled pork to some lettuce wraps to make "tacos". Make up a batch of this dry rub ASAP, you will be glad you did! The recipe was taken directly from here. Check out her site for recipes on ribs and other sauces.

Dry Rub

1/4 cup coconut crystals -optional
2 tablespoons smoked paprika
2 tablespoons garlic powder
2 tablespoons onion powder
2 tablespoons sea salt
1 tablespoon dry mustard
1 tablespoon dry basil (crushed)
2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon black pepper

Fresh Spaghetti Squash Tips

It is amazing that I have not sliced off a finger or a friend's finger the many times I have been preparing spaghetti squash for cooking. Cutting them in 1/2 is a serious chore. Yes, I am a crossfitter, and yes that spaghetti squash works me over every time! My friend shared this little tip with me, and finally I can have my pride back. Now, I own that squash, not the other way around. :)


Simply cut off the top of the squash where the stem is. . .

Now it will be a cinch to cut the squash in half. . .

Remove seeds. Now you are ready to cook your squash.


Wondering how to cook the little veggie? Click here for some simple directions.

Coconut Water and Chocolate Milk?

There has been some recent talk and enjoyment of coconut water at our gym. I was leery to enjoy it because I thought it fell into the category of "juice" and I stay away from that. Usually, when I research something I come to find out that in fact it is bad for me, and then I am disappointed. BUT- this time it was a different story. (Insert happy dance here) Check out this post by Mark Sisson for a closer look at 10 foods, including coconut water and chocolate milk.

Fresh Zucchini Chocolate Chip Bread

I usually don't do much baking. Not because I don't enjoy it, which I do, but because it is not good for me to have all the delicious baked treats just laying around the house. I seriously just can't say no when I know it's just sitting the kitchen waiting for me. . .

This zucchini bread is easy to whip up and pop in the oven while you are making dinner. The #1 tip for you is to let it cool 1 hour in the pan before cutting into it. This may or may not be the reason you only see a picture of the bread IN the pan. Oops! ;)

Fresh Zucchini Chocolate Chip Bread
2 C blanched almond flour
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 C walnut or coconut oil
1/2 C honey
2 eggs
1 C grated zucchini
1/2 C pecans, coarsely chopped
1/2 C organic, chocolate chips.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease loaf pan.

In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients and mix well. Place batter into pre-greased loaf pan. Bake on a low oven rack for 60 min or until knife inserted into the middle comes out clean. Remove from oven and let bread cool for 1 hour. Cut and enjoy!

Grassfed Beef?

Looking for another source of grass fed beef? Check out this link for some quality meats and products. They even have pet food! Your dog Max will be PRing in no time.

Fish Oil Anyone?

If you are still taking those fish oil pills, it is time to UPGRADE!!! Stronger, Faster, Healthier has the highest quality fish oil around. Check out this link to go to their site, or come by our gym to pick yours up today.

Don't be fooled into thinking you can "fish oil" your way out of your poor food choices. I have heard people on various occasions say, "Oh man I am going to have to take extra fish oil to counteract that!". Unfortunately, there is not a "clear all" medicine that will erase or undue poor food choices. Now you have just added more fat to your bad choice (probably high in sugar) and compounded your problem. It is important to maintain a good consistent amount of fish oil, but remember to keep it in balance and get yourself the best option out there.

Step 1: healthy balanced diet, Step 2: supplementation, including fish oil. For a clear and full explination of this topic and a fish oil calculator click here.

Fresh Spaghetti Squash

Let's be honest, we may have all loved spaghetti before our Paleo conversion not only because it was yummy, but because it was super easy! Almost so easy a caveman could do it, minus the processed carb noodles. But in this version, using spaghetti squash, a caveman probably did.

Fresh Spaghetti Squash
Spaghetti Squash

I am only including the directions for the spaghetti squash itself since you can use this vegetable for SO many other recipes, pastas, stirfrys etc. To make traditional spaghetti, use a jar of organic marina sauce and 1 lb cooked ground beef. In my recipe pictured, I used an organic butternut squash sauce.

Cut squash in 1/2 lengthwise. Remove seeds. Poke a few holes in the skin of the squash. Place in a covered baking dish face down in about 1 inch of water.

Microwave for 10 min.
Carefully remove squash from water and scrape inside out. They will be noodle like.

Top it with your beef/sauce or use in a stir fry.

Enjoy!

Nutrition is the Foundation!

Many of you are at the gym often, working hard and giving it your all. You may be wondering why your body isn't reflecting all your hard work. You may also be noticing that you are not having much growth in the gym. The truth is: it all starts with nutrition! The cool and frustrating thing about our bodies is we can't fake good nutrition. When we make poor food choices our body reflects that. But on the flip side when we make good food choices our bodies become an amazing machine! If you feel frustrated with your progress don't be mad at your body. Take a good look in the mirror and have an honest conversation with yourself. I guarantee there is something you can tweak in your diet to obtain better results. Hang in there! Learning what to eat, when to eat it and how much to eat of it takes time. Keep educating yourself and make changes when you can and you will begin to see some progress!

Check out this link. It discusses the importance of a strong foundation of nutrition. We are all on this journey together. Keep up the good work!