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Bone Broth: Easy Paleo Recipe

Posted on 8 December, 2016 by | Leave a comment

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Bone broth has recently taken the paleo, primal, and ancestral dieting worlds by storm, and thats no coincidence. Not only is bone broth an excellent way to make use of all those leftover bones and carcasses you’d otherwise throw out post-roast, it’s also one of the most nutrient dense foods on the planet.

Bone broth benefits

If you’ve arrived at this article looking for a quick, easy recipe: you’ve come to the right place! So if you’re keen to just get stuck in and make some fine-ass broth, scroll down to the next section. But if you’d like to amp yourself up with some fun facts about why bone broth is just so darn good, lets dive right in.

As we explained in yet another ultra-informative Thrive Primal article, bone broth is a must-eat for just about anyone. It’s loaded with a wide range of essential minerals, many of which the typical Western diet is seriously lacking in. These include calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, and potassium. Our friend bone broth, also known in certain circles as stock, is chocka block with glycine and proline, two amino acids which are just the bees knees for your overall health and, well…your knees!

Bone broth also contains plenty of collagen, condroitin and glucosamine, all of which you need to maintain a healthy, fully-functioning body. Put together, all of these minerals and nutrients mean bone broth is an excellent way to improve your bone and tissue healing rates, keep your skin looking young and firm, revitalize your hair and nails, keep your joints supple, heal your gut lining, and improve detoxification.

Excited yet? You should be. Well, without further ado, let’s get broth making!

How to make bone broth the paleo way

There’s two ways you can make bone broth: the slow way, and the fast way. Because the fast way requires a pressure cooker, and we haven’t yet invested in one of those, we stick to the slow way. It’s no less effective, but it just take a few hours longer.

Equipment:

  • Slow cooker or crock pot (they’re essentially the same thing)
  • large glass jar or multiple smaller jars

Instructions:

  • Whenever you cook up a roast, lamb chops, or any meat with bones, set the bones aside and store them in a container in your freezer.
  • Once the pones have piled up to about two thirds the size of your slow cooker (less is fine, too!), you’re ready to go.
  • Throw the bones in your slow cooker, completely cover with cold water, and set the temperature to a low heat. The mixture should remain at a simmer the whole time, and should never boil over.
  • Add one to two tablespoons of apple cider vinegar or white vinegar to the bone and water mixture. This helps to draw the nutrients out of the bones.
  • Leave the bones to do their thing, topping up water as necessary to ensure they remain submerged the whole time. We leave beef and lamb bones simmering for 18 to 24 hours to ensure all the nutrients are extracted into the water, and chicken bones for around 12 to 16 hours. The longer you cook them, the more nutrient-dense your broth will be.
  • After the allotted time, remove from heat, cover, and leave to cool down. Before the mixture cools completely, remove the bones from the bottom of the mixture and pour the rest into a large glass jar and keep in the fridge. It will keep for around 1 to 2 weeks – if you don’t think you’ll use it all within this timeframe, just place some of it in an appropriate container and freeze it!

Note that if you don’t have a slow-cooker or crockpot, you can also just use a large stock pot. Just make sure it’s big enough, and that it’s ok to leave simmering unattended for a long period of time.

Paleo bone broth recipe using pressure cooker

As we explained earlier, there’s a much faster way to fulfill your bone broth needs: the pressure cooker! If you’ve got one of these bad boys, you can whip out a decent batch of bone broth in 2-3 hours. Impressive!

Equipment:

Instructions:

  • Place your bones in the bottom of your pressure cooker. Make sure the bones don’t reach past the two thirds mark of the cooker, otherwise you’ll be dealing with a pressure cooker overload!
  • Cover with water, and add in 1-2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar or distilled white vinegar. Any old vinegar will do, really.
  • Set your cooker to high pressure and leave for three hours. After this time, turn off the heat and leave to depressurize naturally.
  • Allow the mixture to cool to just above room temperature, then strain the liquid from the bones. Store in glass mason jars in the fridge, or place in the freezer for longer term storage.

That’s it! Pretty easy, right? You can also get snazzy by doing things like roasting the bones first (to give your broth a darker, more intense flavor) or adding in vegetables like leaks and carrots. But I like to keep things nice and simple, and knock back half a cup or so of broth each day to reap the health rewards. Enjoy!

And p.s. if you’re worried about lead toxicity issues, don’t be: according to Chris Kresser, the lead found in bone broth is nothing to be worried about.

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Easy Recipe: Paleo Chicken Panang Curry

Posted on 22 August, 2016 by | Leave a comment

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Having spent 5 weeks hopping around Thailand recently, my latent passion for curries has intensified somewhat. Passion for certain curries, that is – my mouth is simply unable to find enjoyment in some of the more spicy curries, namely the ominous green curry. Now, you’re probably thinking “but I thought red curries were the hot ones?”, but it turns out that the opposite is true, with green curries being crammed with Bird’s Eye chillies to give them a particularly vicious kick. It’s probably a color thing – traditionally, the color red symbolizes warning and conjures up visions of heat and, incidentally, spicy red chillies.

Bangkok Thailand Thrive Primal

But I digress. Red curries are great, and in particular the ever-popular Panang curry, otherwise known as “Phanaeng curry” and “penang curry” – take your pick! Panang curry is a personal favorite of mine as it has a deliciously rich, nutty flavor that lends a pleasant sweetness and has just the right amount of spicy zing. I find that ordering Panang curry from restaurants, however, can be kind of hit and miss – especially in Western restaurants, where they can lose their zest and become a bit bland.

Your best bet is to make your own – this way you can control the heat, make sure there’s plenty of good ingredients, get lots of healthy saturated fat, use good-quality meat, and ensure no nasty vegetable oils make their way into your meal (as they tend to do in your average restaurant dish). I’ve used chicken in this recipe as it makes for an amazing curry, but you can substitute chicken for any meat of your choosing, including beef, lamb, pork, fish or shrimp! Enjoy!

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Easy Recipe: Paleo Chicken Panang Curry

Easy Recipe: Paleo Chicken Panang Curry

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. In a large frying pan, mix together the coconut milk, curry paste, lime zest, lime juice, fish sauce, and red pepper flakes (if you can't handle too much heat, play it safe and start with just 1 tsp red pepper flakes).
  2. Simmer over low heat, stirring regularly, until paste is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, about 20 minutes.
  3. While the sauce is simmering, prepare the non-paste ingredients. In a saucepan, cook the onion in the butter/ghee/coconut oil over medium heat until translucent and slightly brown. Add the chicken and cook on medium-high until each piece is white and cooked through. Remove from pan and set aside. Add the bell peppers to the saucepan and cook over medium-high heat for around 10 minutes, until softened and slightly browned. Remove pan from heat and set aside.
  4. When the curry sauce has thickened, add the chicken, bell pepper and onion mixture to it. Stir to mix together the ingredients and simmer for 5 minutes on low heat. Add the basil, turn off the heat, and leave for 3-4 minutes minutes.
  5. Serve warm over white rice or cauliflower rice. Garnish each serving with a few fresh basil leaves and squeeze a little fresh lime juice on top.
https://www.thriveprimal.com/fast-recipe-paleo-chicken-panang-curry/

How did your Panang chicken curry turn out?

We’d love to know the results of your foray into Thai cuisine! Did you add too much spice or too little? Do you have a secret ingredient that you like to add to get that curry taste explosion?

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Your paleo guide to grocery shopping: fruit and vegetables

Posted on 29 July, 2016 by | Leave a comment

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Ok, so you’ve read up on your paleo basics, you’re excited about the positive steps you’re about to take, and you’re rearing to go. You take a bold step inside your local supermarket, and stop abruptly, looking around with a growing sense of unease at the vast shelves of processed goods, overflowing bins of fresh produce, and quivering piles of meat, fish and poultry.

I’ve been there, and I get it. The supermarket for the paleo-conscious is like a minefield, requiring the newly-inducted to step gingerly, lest they put they foot (or in this case, hand) on a food item which appears healthy and wholesome, but is in fact riddled with pesticides and beefed-up on GMOs. Kapow! The bad-food mine goes off in your stomach, you introduce new toxins into your system, and you’re back to square one.

6 years ago, when Liivi and I first jumped on the paleo/primal/Bulletproof bandwagon, we would spend long hours in the supermarket, walking slowly up and down the aisle, examining each potential morsel of food with a metaphorical magnifying glass, and eventually coming to a slow, painstaking decision. We’d get home tired and frustrated, only to find that many of the foods we’d chosen had a sneaky bit of hydrogenated oil or an artificial ingredient that we’d failed to notice in our quest to make it to the checkout with our minds intact.

Gradually, we honed the process, to the point where today we can fly through the supermarket, invariably ignoring 90% of the foods on display, and come out the other side with foods that align with our health mandates. And now I’d like to very generously share that information with you, and save you having to go through the same excruciating process that we did back at the beginning.

This post is the first of a 3-part series which examines how to find the best, cleanest, most paleo-friendly foods at your local supermarket, regardless of how paleo-friendly that supermarket really is. If you’d like to skip ahead, here’s the links to the other articles:

Ratio of fruit to vegetables

Before we delve into how to pick out the healthiest, cleanest fresh produce, it’s worthwhile revisiting one of the key guiding principles of paleo: keep your sugar levels to a minimum, wherever possible.

Now, I’m not talking about removing sugar altogether from your diet: going ketogenic isn’t really my cup of tea. For one thing, sweet things are just so damn delicious, and I’m utterly unwilling to cut them completely out of my life. For another, starving your body of sugar can cause all sorts of hormonal imbalances, the most notable of which is an increase in the production of the stress hormone cortisol, which can in turn contribute to development of auto-immune diseases and annoying conditions like candida.

But, because sugar is pro-inflammatory, and can contribute to weight gain and a host of other ailments and diseases when consumed in excess, you definitely need to keep an eye on it. Fruit, as it happens, is high in fructose, a type of sugar that can spike your blood sugar levels and increase your risk of insulin resistance, which in turn can lead to diabetes.

For this reason, you should always buy far more vegetables than fruit. Vegetables have all the nutritional benefits of fruit, but without the sugar (with the exception of high-starch vegetables like potatoes), so go nuts in the vegetable department. As for fruit, I find eating between 1 and 3 portions per day is just the ticket – make sure you vary what varieties you eat on a daily and weekly basis, though.

Going organic

In a perfect world, you’d always buy organic produce. Heck, you’d buy organic everything if you could. But, unless you shop solely at an amazing farmer’s market which permits only organic meat and produce (if you know of such a place, I want to hear about it!!), that’s not really an option. Organic produce is grown and harvested without the use of pesticides, herbicides and synthetic fertilizers, meaning that it is higher in nutrients and doesn’t introduce nasty toxins into your body.

But organic produce is expensive, and it’s generally only available for limited varieties in your supermarket (if at all). For this reason, you need to prioritize what you buy organic, and what you don’t. Luckily, the Environmental Working Group (EWG) has already done this for us, producing two lists called the Clean Fifteen and the Dirty Dozen which indicate which foods are better to be bought organic, and which foods are low enough in toxins etc that they can be bought non-organic without too many health concerns. The lists are as follows.

Green Fifteen (generally less prone to toxic sprays and chemical fertilizers, so ok to eat non-organic):

  1. avocados
  2. sweet corn (I wouldn’t advise eating this AT ALL, if you can avoid it)
  3. pineapples
  4. cabbage
  5. frozen sweet peas
  6. onions
  7. asparagus
  8. mangos
  9. papayas
  10. kiwi
  11. eggplant
  12. honeydew melon
  13. grapefruit
  14. cantaloupe
  15. cauliflower

Dirty Dozen (generally more likely to be coated in chemicals, so better to buy organic):

  1. strawberries
  2. apples
  3. nectarines
  4. peaches
  5. celery
  6. grapes
  7. cherries
  8. spinach
  9. tomatoes
  10. sweet bell peppers
  11. cherry tomatoes
  12. cucumbers
  13. hot peppers
  14. kale and collard greens

If you look at the two lists, you can see a bit of a theme emerging – produce with a thick outer skin that you don’t traditionally eat, like grapefruit, onions, and avocados, is less prone to chemical treatment. Produce which is eaten whole, without anything being removed (like strawberries and apples), is more likely to be sprayed in order to keep its surface blemish-free. The same applies to leafy greens.

With this in mind, you can formulate a very rough guide to shopping for organic produce:

  1. DO buy organic: leafy greens and any fruit and veggies without a thick outer skin (includes tomatoes and peppers)
  2. NOT NECESSARY to buy organic: fruit and vegetables with thick, inedible skins, or skins which you remove anyway before cooking or eating. Things which grow underground, like potatoes and sweet potatoes, are generally ok to eat non-organic, but it’s often better to peel them before cooking to remove potential fungicides.

GMO produce

Generally, most foods which are organic are also GMO-free, however this isn’t always the case. According to GMO Awareness, with USDA Organic-labelled products, “at least 95 percent of content is organic by weight (excluding water and salt). The <5% remaining ingredients must consist of substances approved on the USDA’s National List. GMOs are NOT on this list, so USDA Organic products are also usually GMO-free.”

It sounds as weird to me as it does to you, but there it is. Despite that rather confusing revelation, USDA organic remains one of the best ways to buy GMO-free (or mostly GMO-free) produce. Luckily, however, we’re starting to see many products and produce with the “NON GMO Project VERIFIED” label, which tells you that your fruit or veggies are completely free of genetically modified organisms.

Which produce is best?

We all have different tastes, and I don’t want to be the one to dictate what you should and shouldn’t buy, but not all fruits and vegetables are created equal. Here’s a list of “paleo-approved” produce, adjusted slightly to allow some primal diet goodness into the mix. Things like avocados, peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, squash and pumpkin are technically fruit, but I’ve included them here as most people think of them as vegetables.

Approved paleo vegetables thrive primal

The bottom two rows are red because these vegetables are high in starches, which means that you need to moderate the amount you eat of these each day. As a rough guide, limit your consumption of starchy vegetables to a handful per day.

Within the “approved” fruit category, there are those varieties which are better than others, and these largely consist of berries. Because they have a preposterously high nutrient content and relatively low sugar content, they should always go to the top of your fruit shopping list. I have a love affair with raspberries and have often been heard to proclaim that they are the “king of fruit”. Turns out I was right! Well, more like the oligarch of fruit, but I’ll call that a win!

approved fruit thrive primal

That’s about it! The above should provide a solid basis for you to become a produce-shopping superstar, saving you some serious time and preventing some major paleo setbacks.

If you’re really serious about taking your diet to the next level, our ebook The Paleo Guide to Beating Candida Naturally has a comprehensive, detailed section on what you should and shouldn’t eat, and even more on shopping for the right stuff. Even if you don’t have Candida (chances are, you probably do), it’s an invaluable guide.

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Why you can’t be healthy without meat & animal products

Posted on 19 November, 2015 by | 1 comment

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The topic of this post is a controversial one, and is bound to get a few of our more “plant-inclined” readers a little riled up. But here at Thrive Primal, we strive to provide our audience with useful, possibly life-changing nutritional information, regardless of how indigestible (excuse the pun) that information might be.

Humans evolved by increasing uptake of animal products

Meat and animal products. I hear a collective gasp from our vegetarian friends, but the fact is that we need these food sources to function at our best. Today, humans are arguably at the top of the food chain because of our dietary switch to animal-based nutrition millions of years ago. We evolved from our early plant-eating hominid ancestors when we began supplementing plants and vegetables with meat and animal-derived products, which resulted in marked increases in brain size.

The downside to this was a reduction in the size of the early-human gut system. This is due to the dramatic energy requirements of both brains and guts – development of one is inversely proportional to the other, thus as our brains grew and began to demand more energy, our guts shrunk. This essentially had a feedback effect on our evolving diets, as early hominids turned to the most nutrient-dense foods available – you guessed it, meat and animal products! – to support our brain development and make up for the loss in digestive capacity from our shrinking stomachs.

As such, humans have been evolving with the aid of nutrient-dense meats, organs and animal-derived products for millions of years.

Why modern diets have failed us

In recent decades, food consumption has changed dramatically from fresh, locally grown, whole foods to mass-produced, GMO, non-organic, semi-synthetic foods which have seen a dramatic increase in health problems, most notably in the US. Here, obesity rates have gone through the roof in the last 30 years, with one in five deaths associated with obesity, primarily as a result of diabetes, heart disease, cancer and liver disease, all of which are correlated with misaligned metabolic function (i.e. an unhealthy diet!).

Subsequently, many people have turned to vegetarianism and/or veganism as a means of avoiding consumption of so-called “dangerous” saturated fats, which the US government seems to have a personal vendetta against. The issue here is that, contrary to mainstream nutritional teachings, well-sourced saturated fats are necessary for healthy metabolic functioning in humans. They are vital in the absorption of important vitamins and minerals, such as vitamins A, D and E, and actually help to support optimal heart and organ function. As a general rule of thumb, vegetarian diets are very low in saturated fats, with the exception of the odd fat-savvy veggo who consumes suitable levels of coconut oil and avocado, and so many vegetarians are severely lacking in this important dietary component.

Many vegetarians might read this and argue that they feel just fine eating only plant-based foods, and that a switch to vegetarianism has improved their health. And it’s true that many people experience marked improvements in their health and well-being with a switch from a modern, processed foods-based diet to a vegetarian one. This is because vegetarian diets do, in fact, have many benefits, particularly in that they bring people back around to eating organic, fresh, whole foods which help to replace many of the nutrients they lost while relying on processed foods. The problem is that, in the long term, our bodies cannot remain at their best on a vegetarian diet, as our digestive system is simply not designed to obtain all the required vitamins and nutrients from plants alone. This is why many vegetarians experience an initial improvement in health but then dramatic declines in health in the long term. This may manifest within as little as a few months, or take a number of years to become apparent.

Eating high-quality meat and animal products is essential

The fact of the matter is, we need animal products in order to thrive. But, and we cannot stress this enough, your meat and animal products MUST be from quality sources. In a nutshell, this means products from animals which are happy, healthy, and thriving in their optimum environment. It makes sense that food sources which make us thrive should also thrive themselves, right?

So, what are the key elements determining high-quality animal products, such as meat, organs, eggs, and dairy? The first one is a no-brainer, and one which you’ll probably roll your eyes at: it must be organic. This means free from pesticides, insecticides, herbicides (anything with the word “cide” in it, really!), artificial hormones and antibiotics. Do not automatically assume, however, that “organic” implies “non-GMO“. In many instances it does, such as in the case of USDA Organic, but not always.

Second, the animal from which your food comes from needs to be either grass-fed or pastured. “Grass-fed” applies primarily to cows and sheep, while “pastured” applies primarily to poultry and pigs. “Grass-fed” is not always synonymous with “100% grass-fed”, however, and many labels will claim that your beef or lamb is grass-fed, when in fact it may have been raised on grass and then “finished”, in the weeks leading up to slaughter, with grains in order to fatten it up. This is a nutritional no-no, and many of the benefits which can be gained from eating grass-fed products (see more on this here) are lost if the animal is grain finished. Therefore, do your homework – avoid, if possible, anything which says “grain finished” (or even “grass finished”), and consider researching your particular brand online before you buy. Sometimes this is the only way to really be sure.

“Pastured” essentially means a “free-range” diet, i.e. one which allows the animal to roam over a comparatively large area and choose foods at-will. This means that the animal chooses to eat only those foods which are best for its own nutrition, and as such the meat is of a much higher quality. This term applies a little more loosely than “grass-fed”, as pigs and poultry have a far more varied natural diet than cows and sheep, which subsist primarily on grass.

Finally, the meat or animal product should have been produced in a humane way. Typically, the previous requirements of organic and grass-fed/pastured would ensure that this is automatically the case, but not always. Therefore, always look for the “certified humane” sticker on your product before you buy it, as this will ensure that the animal was treated with compassion, kindness and not put under undue stress during slaughter.

Choosing quality animal products drives sustainable farming

If you follow the above principles while buying meat and animal products at the store, you’re helping to drive a market which supports sustainable, humane farming practices. This means that farmers have an actual economic incentive to raise their animals in the best possible way, ensuring those animals are given happy, healthy lives. Boycotting the meat industry altogether through vegetarianism is not the answer, as meat producers will continue to supply low-quality, factory raised, inhumanely slaughtered animals to the majority of the population who only cares how the meat tastes in their greasy McDonald’s burger.

The health benefits of eating meat and butter

Provided your meat or animal product is sourced based on the above criteria, it will be some of the healthiest food you could ever eat. Grass-fed beef, for example, contains the perfect composition of fatty acids (think more Omega-3, less Omega-6!), super high levels of Vitamins A and E, and bucketloads of important micronutrients like potassium, zinc, iron and phosphorus. Furthermore, grass-fed butter is loaded with saturated fat, which can improve your blood lipid profile, raising levels of HDL (aka “good”) cholesterol and providing large amounts of Vitamin K2, a nutrient virtually absent from most other foods and which helps to de-calcify your arteries.

The bottom line

Meat and animal products are the bee’s knees. Our bodies have evolved over millions of years to extract optimum nutrition from animal sources, and we function at our best when we obtain the right amounts of these on a daily basis. Make sure, however, that you only buy organic, grass-fed/pastured, humanely-raised meats and animal products.

 

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5 Foods to Increase the Nutrient Density of Your Paleo Diet

Posted on 24 March, 2015 by | Leave a comment

How to increase nutrient density paleo diet

Hey Team! This article is meant to meet you wherever you’re at right now. Maybe you’re eating run of the mill takeaway from the cafeteria at work every day, or maybe you’ve just surgically removed gluten from your diet. Maybe you’ve been doing ‘paleo’ for a while now, eating lots of veggies, clean protein, nuts and seeds, and a little fruit.

Whatever you’re up to, perhaps you’ve heard of the term ‘nutrient density’. I think I heard about this early on in my ancestral nutrition journey but it just sort of breezed through my ears. It sounded sort of appealing but I wasn’t quite sure what it meant.

Nutrient dense foods are the next step for health and healing

At some point I started seeking more in-depth healing, like helping my leaky gut, curing joint pain and reversing tooth cavities. This is where nutrient-dense foods really come into play.

If you’ve been playing around with a clean diet but aren’t quite seeing results, or you’re ready to up your game, here are 5 foods you’ll want to incorporate into your weekly regimen to really up the nutrient density. Once you work in these nutritional heavy-hitters, you’ll start to see lasting health, slowed aging and a truly resilient immune system.

These are foods which are often kind of on the fringe of our modern diets, if not completely forgotten. They were commonly consumed in every traditional ancestral diet but have been pushed aside by large-scale agricultural food. However it’s important for us to reincorporate these foods, since they offer up a powerhouse of vitamins, minerals, enzymes and probiotics which you might be missing in a basic ‘paleo’ or real-food regime.

If you’re not familiar I would highly recommend checking out the invaluable work of the Weston A. Price Foundation and the book Nourishing Traditions. This is basically the go-to goldmine on nutrient dense ancestral foods and how to make & consume them.

5 Foods to Increase the Nutrient Density of Your Diet

Organ Meats:

Consume the liver, heart, kidneys, thymus gland (sweetbreads), brain of any pasture-raised or wild-caught unmedicated animals. My go-tos are:

Organ meats were a go-to for our ancestors and even up until recently when our dads still ate liver & onions. The nutrient and fat-dense organ meats were prized and muscle meats were generally left for the dogs.

Some nutritional highlights:

  • In general, organ meats are between 10 and 100 times higher in nutrients than corresponding muscle meats. (source)
  • Liver contains many important nutrients (vitamins A, B, C, D, E, K, B12 and folic acid, and minerals such as copper and iron) and is higher in all of these nutrients than produce such as carrots and apples (source)
  • Upon analysis and comparison of the nutrient value of foods eaten by traditional versus modern cultures, studies show that a traditional diet provides at least four times the water-soluble vitamins, calcium and other minerals, and at least 10 times the fat-soluble vitamins, such as A and D. These fat-soluble vitamins are present only in animal fats—butter, lard, egg yolks, fish oils, and foods with fat-rich cellular membranes such as liver and other organ meats. (source)

Broth:

You may have heard bone broth mentioned in various paleo literature. This is called just ‘stock’ or ‘broth’ by normal people. To my knowledge these are exactly the same thing.

Collect any bones that come with the healthy meats that you purchase. We keep them in ice cream containers in the freezer. All too often I’ll be looking for some of our homemade raw milk ice cream and come upon a frozen chicken carcass instead…yuk!

…but the point is don’t throw out those bones!

THE EASIEST WAY TO MAKE BONE BROTH & ALWAYS HAVE SOME ON HAND:

Keep each type separate (or mix red meat ones if you like) and when a container gets full dump the bones into your crock pot, add a splash of apple cider vinegar, top up with water so the bones are just covered, and simmer for 24 hours. It’s that easy! Then you can keep the broth in smaller containers in the freezer to be popped into your soups or stir fries or whatever you’re cooking up. You can also just put a cup or two in a mason jar, add some water and pink salt, and heat it up anytime for a nourishing hot drink/snack.

Find out where to grab properly-raised meat in your area with farmmatch.com or eatwild.com. I know there’s also US Wellness Meats in the states, but haven’t found a good online supplier in Canada. Let me know if you know of one!  Also, you’ll be needing a crock pot! (aka slow cooker). Do yourself a favour and get this pretty one, which won’t be such an unsightly beast in your kitchen ;)

Why you should eat broth:

  • Bone broth is a source of minerals, like calcium, phosphorus, magnesium,  and potassium, in forms that your body can easily absorb. It’s also rich in glycine and proline, amino acids not found in significant amounts in muscle meat (the vast majority of the meat we consume). It also contains chondroitin sulfate and glucosamine, the compounds sold as supplements to reduce inflammation, arthritis, and joint pain. Finally, “soup bones” include collagen, a protein found in connective tissue of vertebrate animals, which is abundant in bone, marrow, cartilage, tendons, and ligaments.  The breakdown of collagen in bone broths is what produces gelatin. (source)
  • bone broth assists in tissue and bone healing, keeping the skin elastic, nourishing hair and nails, keeping joints working smoothly, healing the gut lining, improving detoxification and providing vital minerals for body processes (read more here)

Fermented Foods:

Fermentation is really easy to do at home with a simple book and some kefir culture or kombucha culture. All you need is milk for kefir and tea & sugar for kombucha. You can even make sauerkraut in a few days with just cabbage and salt (see instructions HERE).

The benefits of fermented foods:

  • fermentation increases vitamin, mineral, enzyme and probiotic content of food. For example, Kombucha provides beneficial detoxifying B-vitamins, Kefir packs a heavy probiotic punch, and Sauerkraut contains 10x more vitamin C than the original cabbage. (source)
  • the probiotics in fermented foods can assist in curing many conditions such as allergies, food intolerances and digestive disorders (source)

Raw Dairy:

I wrote an extensive post on raw dairy HERE. This will help you find a local source for unpasteurized whole intact organic grass-fed milk. We buy raw milk, kefir, cheese, sour cream and butter weekly. It really doesn’t compare to what you get in the store!! It’s beyond delicious, filling and nourishing.

If you’re looking for a source for grass-fed butter, which is highly prized and recommended in the paleo community, check out my recommendations here for connecting with a local source.

Why would you want to consume raw dairy?

  • The fats are intact. Homogenization of commercial dairy means the milk is pushed through tiny holes which corrupts and/or removes the fat and makes the milk less filling & more difficult to digest.
  • The nutrients are present and bioavailable. Pasteurization (high-temperature sterilization) of commercial milk means that many of the vitamins, proteins and nutrients are denatured and destroyed.
  • It is easier to digest. Natural milk contains enzymes such as lactase which actually negate all or most of the difficulties people have with digesting dairy. This leaves a highly digestible nutritious whole food. Bonus digestive points if you consume cultured dairy such as kefir, which is bursting with probiotics and has hardly any lactose remaining. (source)
  • Raw dairy has been shown to heal conditions such as allergies, chronic fatigue and tooth decay (source)

Seafood:

Seafood is one of the most dense sources of healthy anti-inflammatory fats and body-healing minerals.

Vital Choice is an excellent place to buy high quality wild-caught seafood online (USA) or Daily Catch (Canada). If you’re located elsewhere or are curious about what seafood is the healthiest, check out this primal guide to grocery store seafood.

Some great nutrient-dense seafood choices:

  • wild salmon roe – nourishes the brain and provides a rare food source of vitamin D (more here)
  • wild-caught sardines – a great source of omega 3s, protein and calcium too – if you eat the soft bones (source)
  • oysters – farmed or wild are both fine.

Just four medium sized Pacific oysters supply a smattering of B-vitamins (including over 1000% of daily B12), 1200 IU of vitamin A, a third of daily folate, almost 7 mg of vitamin E, 3 mg copper, 280% of daily selenium, and 33 mg zinc. That comes with 18 g protein, 4 g fat, 1.5 g omega-3, 0.1 g omega-6, and 9 grams of carbohydrates. (source)

Are you inspired to up your nutrient density?

Hopefully this quick guide has given you some juicy tips on how to really fire up your nutrition for long-term health and healing. What are some of your go-to foods, or maybe you have a great source to recommend? Please share with everyone below in the comments, or on the Thrive Primal Facebook page!

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Real Food Recipe: Gluten Free Paleo Pizza Crust

Posted on 21 March, 2015 by | Leave a comment

gluten free paleo pizza crust recipe

This paleo pizza crust recipe is so delicious, I literally think about it randomly sometimes and start craving it and have to make it that night. It reminds me of delicious corn bread.

You can add whatever toppings you want, but I went for fresh homemade pesto, arugula, prosciutto, heirloom baby tomatoes, bocconcini, parmesan and olive oil.

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Real Food Recipe: Gluten Free Paleo Pizza Crust

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 40 minutes

Yield: 4 big slices

A delicious paleo gluten free pizza crust recipe that you can layer with your chosen ingredients. We find it quite filling so the pizza is enough to feed 4 people (or have for dinner and pack along leftovers for breakfast or lunch).

Ingredients

    For the crust:
  • ½ cup coconut flour
  • 1 cup almond meal
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 2 tsp garlic powder
  • 4 free range eggs
  • 3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
  • ½ cup coconut milk
    • For the pesto:
  • 1/4 cup walnuts
  • 1/4 cup pumpkin seeds
  • 4 tbsp parmesan
  • 2 big handfuls basil leaves
  • 1 tsp pink salt
  • 3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
  • juice 1/2 lemon
  • 4 cloves garlic (peeled)

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 375 F.
  2. Mix all crust ingredients in a large bowl and whisk until smooth, it may become thick enough that you can knead it with your hands.
  3. Spread the batter into a rimmed pizza pan or cast iron pan. You want it to be no more than about 1 cm / half inch thick. Spread it evenly with a spatula or your fingers.
  4. Bake the crust by itself for 15-20 minutes.
  5. During this time make the pesto by putting all the ingredients in a food processor and whizzing until smooth.
  6. Take out the crust, pile on your pizza ingredients and bake for another 10 minutes or so to warm everything up. Personally I spread the pesto on as a sauce, then added arugula, prosciutto, heirloom baby tomatoes, and bocconcini balls (fresh mozzarella).
  7. Sprinkle with parmesan and drizzle with more pesto & olive oil before serving.
https://www.thriveprimal.com/recipe-gluten-free-paleo-pizza-crust/

How did it turn out?

Did you like the flavour of the crust? How was the texture? What ingredients did you pile on? Share below or on the Thrive Primal Facebook page!

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Real Food Recipe: Cauliflower Parmesan Fritters + Bacon Mayo

Posted on 12 March, 2015 by | Leave a comment

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This cauliflower parmesan fritter recipe is a great way to get more veggies and healthy fats into your meals. They are hearty, delicious and make a fun snack, appetizer or side dish. I would even propose that a picky eater might like these, since they are so pop-in-your-mouthable. The homemade bacon mayo adds delicious creaminess and flavour, plus some good traditional fats to help you absorb the nutrients from your veggies.

If you want to stick to strict paleo, you can sub the rice flour for coconut and leave out the parmesan. However these ingredients are, in my opinion, nutritious and generally not a problem for digestion, especially if the cheese is well-aged and high quality. Hard cheese is a good source of vitamin K2 for healthy bones and teeth.

NOTE: Please read the full instructions for the mayo before you start making it. Otherwise it will turn out runny! It’s very important to combine the ingredients slowly. I’m one of those people who doesn’t have the patience and just throws it all in, but trust me with this one, you want to take a little time and it will turn out JUST PERFECT, creamy and thick like store-bought mayo, except so much healthier!

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Real Food Recipe: Cauliflower Parmesan Fritters + Bacon Mayo

Total Time: 35 minutes

Yield: 12 fritters

Real Food Recipe: Cauliflower Parmesan Fritters + Bacon Mayo

A delicious paleo primal friendly recipe for crispy cauliflower and parmesan fritters with homemade bacon mayonnaise. A tasty way to eat more veggies and healthy fats. Makes a great appetizer, snack or side dish.

Ingredients

    For the fritters:
  • 2 cups organic cauliflower florets (about 1/2 a head)
  • 1 cup matchstick-cut carrots (I found a bag of pre-cut organic ones at the supermarket)
  • 1/4 cup rice flour
  • 1/4 cup flax meal
  • 1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
  • 1/2 teaspoon pink himalayan salt
  • 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)
  • 2 organic green onions, thinly sliced
  • 3 free range eggs
  • grass fed butter for frying
    • For the bacon mayonnaise:
  • 2 free range egg yolks
  • 1 tsp dijon mustard
  • 3 tsp lemon juice
  • 1/2 cup olive oil
  • 1/2 cup coconut oil
  • 2-3 pieces naturally smoked bacon

Instructions

    Make the fritters:
  1. Preheat the oven to 350, and place the bacon on a sheet to bake (this will be used for the mayo).
  2. Boil the cauliflower and carrots in a pot for 4 minutes, then drain well. You can place them on a towel to dry off if you like.
  3. Transfer to a cutting board and attack them with a large knife until they are chopped into little bits.
  4. Place the chopped veggies in a large bowl; add the flax and rice flours and mix to coat the veggies.
  5. Add the cheese, salt, pepper, green onions and eggs, and mix well.
  6. Heat the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Shape the fritters in your palm, making balls about the size of a plum and placing them carefully into the butter. Cook until golden brown, about 8 minutes, then carefully flip over and cook for about 8 minutes more.
    7. Make the bacon mayonnaise:
  7. When the bacon is crispy in the oven, remove and let cool, then crumble or chop finely.
  8. In a medium bowl (or blender or food processor if you have one) mix the yolks, mustard, and 1 tsp lemon juice.
  9. Start whisking vigorously (blender or food processor on low) while dripping the oil very slowly, even drop by drop in the beginning. You’re creating an emulsion and if you put too much oil at once, it will separate and turn out runny. If you're whisking, you're going to get your exercise :) Keep going non-stop adding the oil slowly.
  10. As you add more oil, you will notice it to thicken and you can pour the oil a little faster.
  11. When all the oil is incorporated and the mayonnaise is thick, whisk in the rest of the lemon juice and the crumbled bacon. You can season to taste with pink salt and pepper. Store in the fridge! YUM!
  12. Serve the fritters hot off the pan with a dollop of bacon mayo to accompany. These make a great packed item for paleo/primal-friendly lunches and snacks too.
https://www.thriveprimal.com/cauliflower-parmesan-fritters-homemade-paleo-bacon-mayo/

 What did you think?

Did your mayo turn out the first try? Did you like the flavour combo? Did you pack these along for a tasty lunch or snack, or have them as a healthy appetizer for a party? Share in the comments below or on facebook.

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Mayo recipe inspired by Paleo Leap

Fritter recipe inspired by Oh My Veggies

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How to make a week of healthy on-the-go meals in 1 hour

Posted on 10 March, 2015 by | Leave a comment

fast easy paleo meals

I’ve put together a new cheat sheet for Thrive Primal Club members that I think you’re going to find super helpful. Become a member for free below – it only takes a sec.

If you’re stuck in the pattern of buying unhealthy over-priced junk for breakfast and lunch during the work week, this cheat sheet will help you jump that ship for good! Spend just one hour on Sunday whipping up easy fast paleo meals to pack along – you’ll never have an excuse again. Get ready for more variety, flavour & energy throughout your week!

I’ve put a lot of work into this cheat sheet! It includes:

  • a menu for nourishing paleo breakfasts lunches and snacks
  • a kitchen gear list
  • a shopping & pantry-stock list
  • a “run of show” instruction list for maximum efficiency in the kitchen
  • a custom recipe for delicious banana chocolate protein muffins

It also includes links to awesome high quality products for your primal lifestyle, including non-toxic food storage and cooking gear, plus tasty ingredients for your recipes.

Everything is listed per-person, so it’s easy to simply multiply for the number of people in your household. It provides a nutrient-dense and varied menu for the week, which you can easily adjust according to your taste.

Click HERE to enter your info

and grab the free paleo meals cheat sheet

 

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