Paleo Series Part III: Recipes and Resources

This is the third installment of a four-part series on the popular Paleo way of eating and lifestyle from a mama’s perspective. You can find Part I here and Part II here. Although Kate is not a medical professional or nutritionist, she’ll share her thoughts and experiences of implementing Paleo in her household. 

Paleo: a simple, whole foods way of eating that focuses on meats, vegetables, fruits, and fats. It is also a lifestyle that places importance upon restful sleep, functional movement exercise, and interacting with and enjoying the outdoors.

A typical dinner for my family: veggie-infused meatloaf, a large salad, and roasted beets

“Good to Know” Paleo Tips for Success

• At every meal, try to fill your plate with at least 1/2-3/4 of it with vegetables and the remainder of the plate fats and meat. If you’re trying to lose weight, watch your fruit and nut intake.
• Eat fresh and local: shop your farmer’s market for the freshest produce and plan your meal around it. This will ensure that you’re getting the most nutritious bang for your buck.
• Encourage your kids to help you shop for food, plant a garden, and cook meals. Sure, it might be a pain to have them “helping” in the kitchen, but you’ll foster their love of nutritious food.
• Keep an “emergency kit” in your car or purse: fill a bag with raw nuts (think almonds, pecans, walnuts, etc.), unsweetened coconut flakes, and nitrate free beef jerky (or make your own, it’s easy!)
• Act like a caveman! Shoot for small spurts of high-energy activity. In other words, play like a kid: run some quick sprints, tackle stairs two at a time, squat, rough-house with your kiddos. Turn off the TV, get off the computer, and move, move, move!

Kale-Coconut Smoothie: Getting Our Greens with Breakfast, Toddler Approved

Kale-Coconut Smoothie

Ingredients:

• 2-4 leaves of kale, washed with spine/stem removed
• 1 small banana
• 1/2 can  of full-fat coconut milk (I like Native Forest brand)
• 1/4 C frozen pineapple
• 2-3 frozen berries (optional)
• ice (optional)
• water to preferred consistency

Directions:

• Put all ingredients in blender and blend for 2-5 minutes or until all of the kale is completely blended. Add water until you reach your desired consistency.
• *Note: If you don’t normally eat kale, err toward a smaller amount in smoothie until your tastes adjust. However, the pineapple is what cancels out the slight bitterness of the kale, so make sure to include it! Spinach can also be substituted for the kale. If doing that, added 1-2 cups of spinach in place of kale.
• Serves 1-2 people
  

Paleo Pancakes and Spinach Frittata

Our Family’s Favorite Recipe Links

Best Paleo “Spaghetti”: one of my favorite recipes to serve for my family AND for company. It’s that good, my friends! Play with the ingredients, experiment, and enjoy. You won’t miss regular pasta after having this. Vegetarians/vegans: leave out the meat, and you’re good to go!

Pancakes: We make this recipe EVERY.SINGLE. WEEKEND.  No joke, it tastes just like regular pancakes, minus the carb crash afterward. Need more convincing? Reference photo above. If you’re worried about sugar though, you can omit the added honey. Sometimes when we’re being really bad, we’ll melt (by way of a double boiler) a 1/2 bar of extra dark chocolate and mix it in with the batter.

Butternut Squash Soup: We make this soup every fall and it’s pretty much a tradition at this point to have it at least once a week. It’s savory, satisfying, and a bit on the spicy side.

Birthday Cake: We made this for our daughter’s first birthday, and let me tell you, the guests preferred it to the “regular” cupcakes I also made. Since I made it for my little one, I cut the honey in half and left out the chocolate.

Paleo Recipe Websites to check out: Nom Nom Paleo, Primal-Palate, and Everyday Paleo

On Pinterest: Check out Robb Wolf‘s two boards for further inspiration!

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Coming Up Next Week: I will be answering your questions about eating Paleo, so hit me up with your tough ones! OK, well maybe not too tough, but you get the picture. Leave a question in the comments below or feel free to leave it on our facebook page.

Kate loves eating delicious meals, but BIG SECRET, hates cooking. Who would’ve guessed? The last time she and her husband got together with friends, her Paleo cupcakes were an epic fail and she (guiltily) bought a gluten-free cherry pie to take instead. Sometimes her 16 month old spits out her meal, and Kate wonders if even the toddler gets that mama is not the cook in the house.