Ever since going primal and cooking for myself, I cannot stand going to restaurants.

Usually by the time I drive to a restaurant, get seated, order, wait for my order, eat, wait for the check and pay… I could have whipped up an amazing meal and enjoyed myself more in the process.

Then there is the issue of food quality. Cooks at 90% of restaurants really don’t give a damn about how much effort they put into your meal. Its just the facts. They are pressed for time, limited to crappy ingredients and most of them are paid like poop. I realized something interesting the other day when I had to go to a business meeting over lunch at a restaurant. How often have you gone out to eat with someone and heard the question asked “How is yours?” How often has the response been “Its ok” or “its alright” or its “so so”? This just isn’t something that has happened to me since not eating out anymore. The food is always excellent or phenomenal and if it isn’t… its my own darn fault.

Then there is the issue of cost. A meal at a half decent restaurant for just the wife and I always seems to put me back at least $30. I can cook whatever I want, grass fed, top shelf and organic for way less than that! I always leave a restaurant feeling a little like I just got robbed.

Kind of tying in with that is the issue of service. How often do you really get good service anymore. Admitted I do get better service when traveling than I do here locally (you other Albuquerque locals can probably vouch for this as well) but you just don’t get decent service anymore. It seems tipping has become a given requirement now and no one feels that they should have to work for it. I am not kidding… the last 3 times I have gone to a restaurant, I have had to stand up, track down my waiter/waitress and demand a refill on my water. When I get good service, I am a generous 20% tipper but it seems that never happens anymore. It is a “gratuity”… it iss meant as a gracious gesture for me to show my gratitude for being taken well care of during my meal. A lot of restaurants these days have even started automatically adding the gratuity to your bill for you thereby deciding for you exactly how much gratitude you posses for your meal.

And then there is… you know what? Never mind. I am just getting myself aggravated. 

Alright, it has been a while so I thought I would pop in and address some of the rumors floating around.

- No, I am not dead.
- No, I did not get trampled by a mastodon.
- No, I did not shed human life and go to the woods to live with the wolves.
- No, I did not leave my wife and run away with Rick Martin…
- I didn’t give up primal.
- I didn’t give up blogging
- And I didn’t give up on all of you!

I have simply been very very busy. A month of travelling for work in November turned into a month of a ton of extra work in December which turned into a ton of work in January from making corrections for fallout from work in December.

Yes, I have received everyone’s emails. No, I am not trying to be a jerk and ignore them. It is my intention to go back all the way to November and start responding to them.

I am also somewhat suffering from blog topicitus. Primal is pretty simple and honestly… there are really only so many ways that you can say the exact same thing. I wont say any names but some of the other “major” primal blogs have really gotten in the habit of reposting the exact same information with a new shiny wrapper… and you know what? I am not about that.

I don’t want to say that I don’t have ANY content for you… I really do. In fact I have been sitting on the Primal Enchilada recipe for quite a while now just because I haven’t had a chance to post it.

Anyways, I am going to try to start getting to those emails and getting some posts up as soon as possible.

Hello… remember me?

Yeah, I know that I have not posted in a couple weeks and I apologize for that. I work in benefits and we are coming up on that wonderful time of year known as “open enrollment”. I have been extremely busy setting up the 2010 year benefit plans before this years open enrollment.

Well tomorrow starts open enrollment and I will be traveling all over the country for pretty much the next 3 weeks straight to facilitate, present and assist in the open enrollment process. My next 3 weeks will pretty much consist of 16 hours days flying, driving and working.

I do plan on doing it all primal. This will be my longest, busiest and most stressful trip to try to pull off primally to date.

Anyways, this also means a 3-4 week hiatus for the blog starting out. When I come back, we should be primed for a nice SoG thanksgiving post and maybe some primal travel tips that I pick up along the way.

We will see you then!

First off: Congrats to Roger De Rok! He has broken the 100# weigh loss mark in just over 10 months!

Apologies to everyone for the lack of posts. I have been fighting a nasty nasty flu (and not the variety that oinks).

This is the first time that I have really been sick since I have gone Primal and it has been a bit humbling.

A lot of Primal sites talk about the fact that eating Primally can boost your immune system. I do believe this is completely true and I have largely been extremely healthy and have avoided most of “whatever is going around” for the past year. This boosted primal immunity armor is not impermeable as I have recently learned,

You CAN still get sick. There are a couple things that could have been affecting my immunity slightly. For example, money has been very tight lately. This has led to me not taking my fish oil and multi-vitamin as regularly as I normally do. I also have not been eating grass-fed and have been reduced to eating standard beef for a while. All these things may have been impacting my immune system negatively but you know what… I think I would have still gotten sick anyways.

Grok may not have been as flu and cold stricken and bed ridden as we are nowadays but he DID still get sick. So while your primal immunity armor may be strong, remember it is not unstoppable and you should still be careful when something is “going around”.

Yummy Waffles

I was perusing through my kitchen cabinets the other day when I came upon a waffle iron. Of course I immediately got a huge craving and decided that I had to create some Primal Waffles.

Here is what I came up with and it will definitely not disappoint. These were quite good. It has been long enough since I had a “normal” waffle so it is hard for me to compare but I would say that these are easily as good if not better!

Old… OLD World Waffles

Ingredients:
- 8oz Organic Cream Cheese
- 1 cup almond flour
- 1 half cup shredded coconut.
- 4 eggs
- 1-2 teaspoons vanilla
- dash of cinnamon

Waffle Syrup:
- Fruit! Any you like but I have found that frozen strawberries that are put in the microwave and then chopped and mashed makes a great natural syrup!

Directions:
1. Pulse half cup of shredded coconut in a food processor or blender until you have a kind of coconut flour. (some people may remember this from some of my other recipes) This makes a great coconut flour that is full fat and less dry than pre-made almond flour which is usually de-fatted.
2. In a mixer or mixing bowl, combine all ingredients and mix well to create a batter.
3. Cook your batter on the waffle iron. If you dont have a waffle iron, you could probably make them pancake style in a pan on the stove.
4. Enjoy them how you like them! We did some organic butter and the heated frozen strawberry natural syrup.

Came out perfect!

Cavemen Cookies from the Cavemen Bakery

Last week I received in the mail a beautiful bag of these Cavemen Cookies from the Cavemen Bakery.

I know… I know… cool name right?

It gets better… this is the slogan on the bag “Just like your great, great, great, great, great… grandmother used to make!”

Anyways, they are available from the online store and are available in select deli’s and store’s around the NYC area (hear that you crazy black box crossfitters?). They claim to be a paleo friendly cookie for the masses. I know that I have featured my own “Caveman Cookies” here on the site but these are actually very different

So how do they add up? Here is the skinny on them:

Taste:
The taste is great! Way… way… WAY to sweet for me and my sensitive palette but aside from that they are quite good. They remind me of a cross between a ginger snap and an oatmeal cookie.

Texture:
This is the best part of these cookies. They are so soft and chewy that I have to wonder exactly how they managed to do it (ok, actually I know… it’s the honey and raisins but shhhhhhh). If you could think of the best possible cookie texture to have… this would be them.

Presentation:
From the packaging to the product, these look great. They are done in such a way that they would make great gifts in the bag or you could take them out of the bag for a party or the like and no one would be the wiser.

Ingredients:
There are no chemicals and the ingredients are almost completely benign which is a nice thing. Almond flour, nuts, raisins, ginger and nutmeg are all pretty darn safe. The only thing I don’t really like about the ingredients is the honey. I am of the opinion that refined sugar is refined sugar whether it is refined by man or by bee’s albeit the bee method is probably more natural. There is plenty of honey in these cookies too, you can tell from the taste and the texture. Still it is a far better option than the typical cookie floating out there.

Nutrition:
The nutrition info is easily available right on the website which is commendable.
Per 2 cookies it is:
Fat: 7g (Sat: 0.5g, Poly: 3g, Mono: 3.5g
Chol: 0
Sod: 0
Carbs: 15g
Fiber: 1g
Sugar:13g
Protein: 3g
Yeah a little high in sugar for 2 cookies… so eat only 1!

Conclusions:
These taste awesome and truly are a worthy investment. I wouldn’t make a habit of packing them back but one here and there is definitely a reasonable treat. Also as I said, these would make an excellent gift! I have bantered back and forth a little in email with the owner of the Cavemen Bakery and I can assure you that she has the right motives and intentions. This means that not only can you enjoy eating a yummy cookie but you can also feel good about supporting a good business.

You can order Cavemen Cookies from the Cavemen Bakery online at:
www.cavemencookies.com

Cracklin Chicken with peppers and salsa

I know I promised this last week but here it is… sorry… better late than never right?

Do you miss your chicken/veal parmesan? How about breaded tilapia or any other delicious breaded or fried meat? Well here is a perfectly primal solution… and it is delicious!

I give you Cracklin Chicken. It is so easy and so delicious. This same principle can be applied for fish, beef, pork or any other meat that you would like as well (Just change the cooking times accordingly of course).

Ingredients:
- Chicken tenders or breasts
- Egg (white and yolk mixed)
- Crushed Pork Crackling or Pork Rinds. You can either collect all the crumbs that are left over from your normal stash or crush some up on purpose.

Prepping the chicken

Directions:
1. Paint your chicken with egg.
2. Cover with crackling crumbs using the egg like a glue.
3. Bake in the oven at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes or until cooked.
4. Enjoy!

You can add some additional seasonings to the chicken if you like but I have found that it is not really necessary because of the salty nature of the crackling or pork rinds.

You can eat your Crackling Chicken straight up, use it in a chicken salad or use it in other delicious recipes like this:

Primal Chicken Parmesan:
Top your crackling chicken with this simple sauce:

Ingredients:
1 Can Tomato Paste
1-2 Cups Water (To desired thickness)
1 Tsp Dried Oregano
1 Tsp Garlic

Directions:
1. In a saucepan, combine all ingredients. Use water to desired thickness. We like ours pretty thick. Feel free to add more spice if you want it, too.
2. Simmer on stove for approximately 15 minutes.

Serve with or without spaghetti squash noodles!

I hope you all enjoy this one… I can’t wait to try my Crackling Tilapia!

Happy Labor Day to Everyone!

Sorry that I have not posted in a while. I have been extremely busy. My car broke down  and I had to fix it and we have added a new addition to our family.

His name is Egon.

Already checking out the grill

He is a GREAT dog. Absolutely amazing in fact. We saved him from the middle of a busy street about a week back and when no one claimed him (people abandon dogs in the desert out where I live all the time), we decided to legally adopt him. Unfortunately though he got an infection from his surgery (the animal shelter neuters all adopted dogs) and he has been very sick and has required a lot of extra care and attention.

Anyways… here is a simple labor day recipe for everyone. This salad dressing is my grandmothers recipe and is by far my favorite dressing. It also happens to be completely primal. Not only is it my favorite primal salad dressing though, it is my favorite dressing period!

My batch is almost gone!

Primal Balsamic Vinaigrette

Ingredients:
-3/4 cup olive oil
- 3 tblspns balsamic vinaigrette
- 2 teaspns dijon mustard
- 1 small garlic glove finely chopped or minced
- 1 tbslpn shallots finely chopped or minced
- 1 tblspn red onion finely chopped or minced

Directions:
1. Combine all ingredients in a bowl
2. mix thoroughly
3. Store in sealed container (I got mine form the $1 store) in the refrigerator
4. Shake well before use and Enjoy!

Like many of the best things in life.. it really is that simple!

Enjoy your labor day! I have an extra special chicken recipe coming to you later in the week!

08/08

08/09

I almost missed it. This month one year ago, I decided to turn my life around and started moving towards a primal lifestyle.

Wow… I never could have imagined that I would be where I am right now.

Here are a few things I have learned along the way:
- It is WAY easier to be fit and healthy that you would expect
- A lot of people are going to think you are crazy
- You have to do it for you
- The outdoors is an awesome place to be
- Over-analyzing and over-sciencing your approach is a waste of time
- Food is more than something to tide your hunger over. Real food is delicious.
- I love cooking
- I really can live without bread and french fries and chips and corn and sugar… and live well!
- Eating fat can make you NOT fat
- I really do have abs under there!
- Most people really do have no idea how to get healthy
- Most people do not realize how much of an impact what you eat has on your health
- I don’t think that I ever want go back
- Much much more that I neglected to mention here!

So here is to my success… and yours!

This is my idea of a "fun" workout

“I Hate Working Out”

I hear this a lot (mostly from Roger De Rok).

If this is you or how you feel as well then I have some good news for you.
YOU DON”T HAVE TO WORK OUT TO BE HEALTHY AND IN SHAPE.

If you think that what I just said is unprimal… think again.

How often do you think Grok thought “Man… I need to work out more”?
He didn’t.
Instead he thought “Man… I need to get some food” or “Man… I need to build some shelter” or “OH CRAP THAT THING HAS BIG TEETH… I NEED TO RUN AWAY”.

All these things translated into exercise which we do need to be healthy and in shape. “Working out” is not the only way to get exercise though. Planned and scheduled “workouts” do not have to be part of the equation.

Working out is indeed a good way for us to get exercise and for us to make up for all the things that Grok did standard that we no longer do. Working out is also quite convenient when you don’t have the time, weather, or opportunity to get exercise in other ways. Some people even enjoy working out itself and more power to them. I myself have been working out 1-3 times a week depending on how active I am outside of working out. I have been doing a fair amount of outdoors activity lately and so have not felt a need to work out too much. I have been going to the lake the last couple weekends which involves a lot of swimming, jumping, climbing etc.

If you hate working out though, don’t stress! Just make sure that you are getting your exercise through other means. This can be done any number of ways including playing a sport, taking a hike, exploring, yard work, home improvement projects. Just be active!

If you can find a manner of exercise that you enjoy, then getting exercise will never seem like a chore. Also, if you get bored of getting exercise one way, switch it up and find another. It is why the workout crew likes to switch up their workouts so they don’t get monotonous.

Don’t let your lack of motivation or your distaste for working out keep you from a healthy happy you!

Ready to jump back down!