Monday 31 December 2012

This is NOT a New Year's Resolution

What will the new year be like for you?


This is not going to be a post about losing weight, about eating less cheats or getting in more exercise.  Nope.  This post is NOT about New Year's Resolutions.

I'm not big on New Years Resolutions.  If you really want to change something, change it as soon as the idea is fully formed in your head.  Changes happen gradually, with much effort, not overnight.


I'd like to say that this whole switch to paleo happened over night, and maybe I did make the decision to change my diet overnight, and  commit to it after a couple more days of reading (I read for more than a couple of days, in fact, I've been reading all about it for the past year and a half, incessantly and obsessively.)  I may have committed to it in a single day, but lets' be honest, this whole paleo thing is HUGE, we all make mistakes along the way, we try things that work and try things that don't work.  We eat things we think are paleo-appropriate, then change our minds.  We eat things that are definitely paleo-appropriate, then find we just can't digest them and have to give them up.

This paleo thing is ever-evolving.

It is not the same diet, or lifestyle, now, that it was a year and a half ago.

Right out of the gate, I was hard-core.  For the first month or two, there were no sweets, no cheats.  Then I decided to allow dairy back in my life.  Then I nixed it.  then I let it back in.  Then I discovered bacon wasn't so bad, even the conventional kind, and the floodgates of bacon-enabling opened.  Then I discovered fatty cuts of meats.  Then I took the fatty cuts out because I wasn't able to afford pastured meat and all that is evil is concentrated in the fat.  Then I ate them anyways, devil-may-care.  I overdid it on paleo "treats".  Many times over.  I overdid it trying to prepare neolithic foods with paleo-appropriate ingredients and made preparing dinner every night into a marathon of cooking.

PUT DOWN THE DONUT!!!


We forced this diet on our teens, then allowed them to do what they wanted, then forced them some more.  Our 3 big 'allowances' to the teens to this day are hot dogs, peanut butter, and occasionally, a loaf of bread. We feed our teens a paleo-appropriate diet, and those treat foods keep them from slitting our throats as we sleep.




Somewhere along the journey, I joined the local Paleo Meetup Group.  The group just exploded after that, and it's really opened my world up.  And my eyes.  When I asked Glen about what kinds of foods he likes to eat at home (I was still in my converting-neolithic-foods-to-paleo-foods phase , he oh-so-simply said "meat with salad."  Almost always, without err.  Meat and vegetables.  That's it.  No almond-flour-crusted pan-seared-on-cauli-pilaf creations.  Just cook some meat, and throw it on a salad with kefir as salad dressing or with some sweet potato instead.  Repeat.  Keep repeating.  At first, I thought that this was the most colossally boring way to go about eating ever.  I thought he was un-inventive and I, on the other hand, was a food-lover, a real foodie and THAT way of eating would never, ever do.  I questioned him on it.  But he defended his choices, and he pointed out that the way I was eating vs. the way he was eating, it was an evolution.  Many of us start out trying to grasp something that is familiar and over-do it, over-complicate it.  But over time, and experience, things settle down, meals simplify and life just gets easier.  We start to do all these things out of habit instead of with forced effort.  We get used to this.  And we find ways to simplify things, we accept the things that matter the most to us and forgive ourselves the choices we make--like whether or not to buy organic, or from farmers markets, or pastured meat and eggs, or allow dairy into our lives.

Thanks to Glen, my meals have simplified a lot.  Gather up some meat, some veggies, and throw them together.
 


I have learned to cook the meat bone-in and skin-on, to roast slowly whenever possible.  I have learned to love fat, to use all the drippings to make gravies and sauces with those fats, and I am learning still how to use every scrap of meat and waste nothing.  I have learned how to bake without grain flours and with minimal sweeteners, but I think I need to scale back on that a bit.  What the paleo world really needs is more ways to make use of fats, to cook more traditional foods and get comfortable with the odd bits.  To learn how to get thrifty like our grandparents were.  But maybe that's just me.

It took me a year to find a grassfed source of beef that I was proud to have--and at $4/pound, it was economical, too.  Wouldn't have been able to buy it any other way.  It came roasts, and ground meat, and steaks, and also with organs and bones and hard white chunks of waxy fat.  I paid for it.  I will learn how to use it.  Planning my meals is no harder than wandering downstairs to my freezer and pulling out a hunk of meat and deciding what veggies would go best with it that day.  It really has been that simple.

And now I want more of that simple.
This image actually came from Zephyr Organics....

I'm hooked.

Wouldn't it be a perfect world if all of your food came right to your door?  To never have to set foot in a grocery store again?  I know that will never happen, not really.  But this year, I want to focus on finding ways to simplify some of those basic food needs.  Fill my freezer with meats.  Join a CSA.  Let what I already own be the deciding factor in what I eat--enough driving around looking for weird food ingredients.  Waste less.  Ferment more.  Spend less time with food and more time doing the other things I love.

My beef came right to my door, thank you very much John Snowdon.  And  I found a vegetable CSA in Zephyr that will deliver, too.  I need to find a good, affordable source for pork and stock my freezer, or even buy a second freezer.  Then, I think I will be set.


You know you want it.
This coming year on the blog, you will see more real food fermentation recipes, more traditional foods, cooking with offal, more ways to work with fat, and less sweet treats.  Oh, and make no mistake, there will still be snacks and treats--but they will be deceptively high-fat and low-sweetener and still delicious, and very pared-down and plain old 'why didn't I think of that' simple.


THAT is what I want to do in 2013.  No resolutions.  But I have some goals.  Some things  I want to focus on.  And some things I want to focus less on.  Simplicity is my plan.

What are you going to change this year?

Friday 28 December 2012

Bone Broth Tomato Soup

Sometimes I just want simple and filling--and in the wintertime, warm comfort food.

Sometimes that comfort comes in the form of a hot bowl of soup.  As much as I love a warm mug of homemade bone broth, sometimes a bit of flavour variety is needed.  Sure, sometimes boiling broth with a scrambed egg dropped in with chopped green onions (egg drop soup) is divine, but is that all there is to life? I say no.  Eating should be an adventure.

This idea came from 2 places--first, a simple tomato soup from Canadian Living Magazine here, which I paleo-ified up and served to my family to great reviews, and this recipe by my low-carb-loving friend Danny at Primal North.  This soup is waaay better tasting than that canned stuff so many of us grew up on.  And it uses bone broth, so it's good for the guts, too.  Win, win.  And it's super-fast and easy.  What more can I say?!  So here goes.

Serves 1 very hearty bowlful.

Ingredients:

  • 1 c homemade bone broth, preferably poultry
  • 1/2 c tomato sauce (look for no-sugar-added brands)
  • 2 Tbs finely chopped leeks (or onion, or shallots)
  • butter, for frying leeks
  • 1 clove garlic
  • 1/2 tsp italian seasoning
  • 1/4 c full-fat whipping cream (or coconut milk if you don't mind a bit of coconut flavour)
  • sour cream/yogurt/bacon for garnish, optional
Method:

Saute leeks in butter until softened.  Add garlic and saute 1 minute more.  Add italian seasoning, bone broth and tomato sauce, simmer for 5 minutes.  Remove from heat, add whipping cream, stir.

Add garnishes, if using.  

*I tend to freeze my bone broth in ice cube trays, and in 1-cup servings (that I freeze, remove from their containers, then stack them in a freezer bag to store).  This made preparing this recipe especially fast and easy.  How do you store your bone broths?

See the white chunks?  My yogurt garnish sank to the bottom of the bowl ;( 

Monday 24 December 2012

Crockpot Carnitas and Herbed Cauli-Rice

I have begun to suspect that there is a paleo advocate carefully camouflaged inside the Chatelaine Magazine recipe-creating staff....  And it makes me so, so happy.

We will infiltrate everything, everywhere, until we have taken over the world, bwa-ha-ha-ha....

Because in Canada, paleo is still mostly unheard of.  It is a secret world mostly known only to crossfitters, celiac-sufferers and mega fad-dieters.  And the Canadian magazine Chatelaine is distributed worldwide; according to Rogers Publishing, it has a readership of 3,280,000.  So any recipe they publish is going to really, really be seen.

Of course, they don't CALL those recipes paleo.  Or primal.  Or grain-free.

But they exist.  Oh, how they exist--just look a little closer.

And even better than that, of the non-paleo recipes they present, many of those recipes are no longer carb-centric either, lending themselves to easy translation into a paleo-acceptable meal.  Or so I find.  Is it just me?  You decide--go check it out here.

So it is that I came upon this recipe for easy crockpot pork carnitas.  With a pretty picture for herbed rice, too, which is apparently the way we're supposed to be serving out carnitas, if we're going to do it right.  (I want THEIR food photographer...sigh...see right pic; next time I'm just going to have to try to imitate their photo set-up)

Now, I've seen paleo carnita recipes out there before.  I've cooked a few of those recipes.  And while they were definitely tasty, they were also hi-effort.  And I'm a lazy cook.

So, a few small tweaks to the Chatelaine recipe, and voila, perfection and deliciousness happened.  And as for the herbed rice?  A quick google taught me that its just rice with fresh herbs and lime juice added to it.  Wow, how simple and tasty THAT turned out.  So here's what I did:



Crockpot Carnitas

Ingredients:


  • 2 lbs pork shoulder
  • 2 tsp chili powder
  • 1 tsp hot red pepper flakes
  • 1 tsp cumin
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 2 tsp dried minced onions
  • 1-2 tsp garlic powder
  • 2 tsp coconut sugar
  • pepper to taste
  • 1 tsp cinnamon 
  • 1 bay leaf


Method:

If you have regular grocery-store meat, trim off all visible fat.  Cut pork into large chunks and place them in your crockpot.  Add all spices except bay and toss to mix. Place your bay leaf ontop of the meat, cover and cook according to crockpot manufacturers instructions.  With my crockpot, it's 10-12 hours on low, or 4-5 hours on high.

Go to work and forget about it.

At the end of the day, give the meat a quick stir to re-distribute juices, if there are any.  Heat frypan to med-high, add some fat of choice and throw those meat chunks in just to slightly crisp them on the sides that weren't face-up in the crockpot.


Herbed Cauli-Rice

Ingredients:

  • 1 head cauliflower
  • 1-2 Tbs chicken broth
  • 1/2 c green onions, chopped
  • 1/2 c fresh cilantro leaves, chopped
  • 1/2 c fresh parsley leaves, chopped
  • 2 frozen cubes of fresh dill, or 2 tsp dill from those "tubes" or 2 Tbs chopped fresh dill
  • juice of 1 lime
  • butter, for frying
Method:

Rice your cauliflower.  In frypan on med-high, add cauliflower and chicken broth, cover and "steam" for a few minutes, until broth evaporates.  Add butter, lime juice, and all spices, cook for a couple more minutes until fragrant and cauli is cooked al dente.

Serve pork over herbed cauli-rice. I served mine with all the extra pan-juices poured over top because I'm like that.  I love my fatty-fat-fat.   Enjoy!

Wednesday 19 December 2012

Drop Shortbread


In my house, as a kid, I remember my grandmother always making drop shortbread cookies at Christmastime.  It was never the hard, dry Scottish shortbread.  It was a powdery white cookie, dropped by the spoonful onto the pan with half of a maraschino cherry stuck into the middle of each one, some red, some green, little Christmas coloured shiny blobs in a mound of white.  I hated those cherries at first, and forever hated them in anything BUT these cookies.  But over the years I came to appreciate about how these buttery and simple shortbread cookies came to life with the addition of those little cherry bits in them.

And then I had kids.  And they loved the drop shortbread cookies, and hated the cherries.  I tried to bake them with everything and anything else that I could--red and green coloured sugar crystals, Hersheys Kisses, jujubes--and just eventually started making the drop shortbread PLAIN.  Gasp!  I know, I know, eh? I didn't know then what I know now about candied fruit and food colouring and all the other other awful crap they put in those marachino "cherries".

But you know what?  We all loved those cookies plain.  They were simple and light and just sort-of crumbled apart in the mouth.  They were only lightly sweet and smooth and buttery and it was too, too easy to gobble up 12 of them.  They went down easy.

Well, shortbread cookies are really just flour, powdered sugar, and butter.  No eggs.  No vanilla.  No anything fancy or weird or difficult to find.  Creating a shortbread-flavoured cookie without flour and powdered sugar was not an easy thing to do since those were the only flavours in them.  It took a few tries.  And the end result??  Sure, they don't look like the real deal.  Not when you grind your own almonds into flour like I do.  (If you can afford the super-fine ground almond meal, I'm sure they'll look pretty authentic.  But I can't.)

And while the ground almonds in these cookies have a bit more chewiness than traditional shortbread, these cookies still crumble gently in the mouth like drop shortbread should, and the buttery simple sweetness comes pretty damn close to what I remember it should be.  So try them.  They're oh-so-simple to make.  Have them with a spot of Earl Grey tea.  You're welcome.


Drop Shortbread

Makes about 4 dozen cookies

Ingredients:
  • 2 c slivered almonds, blended/processed into almond meal
  • 1/2 c coconut sugar
  • 1/3 c coconut flour
  • 1 cup cold butter
  • pinch of salt
Method:

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

Blend almonds in food processor as finely as you can.  You can use almond meal if you already have that, same measurement.  Add your coconut sugar and blend a bit more.  You're trying to finely grind the sugar, too, if you can.  If you can't, don't sweat it.  Add coconut flour.  Add butter in cubes, pulsing, until all blended and a dough forms.

Drop by spoonful onto cookie sheet lined with parchment paper (or use an insulated cookie sheet without parchment).  Bake 25 minutes.  Let cool 5-7 minutes before trying to move from pan to cooling rack.  Cookies are delicate.





Nutrition Facts (per cookie)
81 calories
6g fat (3g saturated)
5g carbohydrate
2g fiber
2g protein


Sunday 16 December 2012

Organic Semantics


Is it just me, or the label "organic" just another reason to double the sticker cost at the grocery store?  I mean, really, how do you justify spending $1.99 an apple, when you can spend $0.99/lb?  It begins to add up when you're feeding 2, 3, 4, or more mouths--and especially when those mouths are teens!  Holy cow can they ever put food back!

I have a little confession to make, just between you and me, of course...I ....don't..... always...... buy.... organic.... produce....

Gasp!  I know, I know.  I've been playing Russian Roulette with my family's health and endangering us all, and....well, hold on a minute!  Let's back that truck up and take a closer look at this...

So why would I want to buy organic?  What, really, does the organic label mean?  We all kind-of assume that "organic" means it's raised without man-made chemical pesticides and hormones.  How bad, really, can those pesticides be, honestly??  They passed the FDA test, right?!  And what about the other side of the coin--nutrition content?

In order to receive an organic label, produce must be grown without the use of synthetic pesticides, without GMOs, without petroleum-based fertilizers or sewage-based fertilizers, and must be grown in safe, unmodified soil (ref. this link).   The Canadian Government defines it this way--

"The general principals of organic production include the following:
1. Protect the environment, minimize soil degradation and erosion, decrease pollution, optimize biological
productivity and promote a sound state of health.
2. Maintain long-term soil fertility by optimizing conditions for biological activity within the soil.
3. Maintain biological diversity within the system.
4. Recycle materials and resources to the greatest extent possible within the enterprise.
5. Provide attentive care that promotes the health and meets the behavioural needs of livestock.
6. Prepare organic products, emphasizing careful processing, and handling methods in order to maintain the
organic integrity and vital qualities of the products at all stages of production.
7. Rely on renewable resources in locally organized agricultural systems."  (see this Government of Canada PDF document for more on this)

Sounds promising, right?  Further down in the nitty gritty details that I doubt anyone truly wants to read in its entirety, is a list of what is banned, and that ban covers "...all materials and products produced from genetic engineering" (GMOs) as well as "Synthetic growth regulators...veterinary drugs, including antibiotics... ionizing radiation and forms of irradiation... cloned farm animals and their descendants... "  The list goes on, and covers quite a lot of things we probably even haven't given any thought to, or are completely unaware such things even existed.  This is a fabulous resource, this document, but wow...long and tedious read if you're not into that kind of stuff.

In Canada, as of 2009, organic producers MUST be certified by an accredited agency to be able to use the organic label, which is a great idea, but apparently accreditation companies are not required to test the food being labelled.  They are allowed to accept the words of the farmer/producer as good enough.   The organic farmer IS required to keep detailed records of everything they do, though--so accreditation all boils down to getting an ISO audit (if you've never been part of an ISO audit--I have--the auditor reads your notes, questions why you did what you did, suggests small changes and when you show you've made the changes, your certification follows in the mail).  Also of note; food additives can be used to help maintain the "nutritional value, composition, consistency and appearance", and "stability" of the so-called organic food.  Also, there are sprays out there akin to petroleum-based sprays that do count as "natural" and so can be used--so don't assume that they aren't spraying the crops, just that they're not using specifically identified chemical compounds.  And here's another interesting tidbit--for any food "product" to be classed as organic, it must have at least 70% of its ingredients labelled as organic.  In other words, that $6 can of organic tomato sauce has up to 30% conventional food ingredients in it.  That little tidbit of information came from the actual Cdn. Govt. document 'Organic Products Regulations' here .

The honest truth is that "organic" definitions differ everywhere--country to country, province to province, even farm to farm.  For an awesome list of organic regulations all over Canada, check out this site from Pro-Cert.  It includes not just the regulations in Canada, but also European, Swiss, Taiwan regulations, and how those regulations cross-reference against our own standards.  Neat stuff, if you like reading government documents.  I have always, always questioned the validity of the word "organic" when my cherries have come from somewhere like Chili.  Our standards are not their standards, you know?  But then I found this FAQ article by the CBC--and it totally makes me feel better--scroll down to the end where it discusses imported organic products.  The suggestion is that to be sold as organic here, it must pass OUR standard definition of organic.

Ok, enough poking holes.  Nothing is 100% foolproof, lets be honest.  We'll leave the hole-poking up to the media herehere, and here.  I'll let you decide for yourself on the validity of these articles.  We've all heard those horror stories of organic growers spraying their crops in the middle of the night to avoid detection.  Perhaps I've been listening too much to THOSE kinds of voices in the past.

Know what the best way to really get to the bottom of organics and spraying is?  Get to know the farmer you want to buy it from.  Meet the farmer.  Talk to him.  Tour his farm, see what he does, ask questions.  Most farmers are pretty open to this.  Beware a farmer that isn't.

Organic is great in principal.  And when it comes to produce, some things matter more than others.  We've all heard about the "dirty dozen", right?  Those foods that are just drenched in the worst pesticides out there?  Lets review quickly.  Produce that, on average, contains the highest level of pesticides are:
  • apples
  • carrots
  • peppers
  • celery
  • cherries, blueberries (on some lists but not others)
  • imported grapes
  • kale, spinach, lettuce (and other leafy greens, I would personally add)
  • potatoes
  • imported nectarines
  • peaches
  • pears
  • strawberries
Some lists also include conventional, fatty cuts of meat because all the bad stuff is the most concentrated in the fat--so if you don't buy your beef and pork 'grass-fed' yet, please DO trim all visible fat and replace the fat with a healthier fat like coconut oil until you can find a good grass-fed source.  And coffee is now making this bad list.  And to those of you who consider yourself primal over paleo, milk and milk products are making their way onto this list more and more often as well.  Of course, those of you that I know personally, you already buy all your dairy in its organic form, but not everyone can afford to do that.  I don't buy milk or cream, but I do enjoy butter, so while I do still buy the conventional stuff, I am trying to find an acceptable price on the organic or raw stuff.  I don't buy organic cheese, either, but I do buy Kerrygold brand anything-I-can-get-my-hands-on (their Dublin Cheese is freakin' awesome!).  Kerrygold comes from Ireland, is completely natural and is from 100% pasture-fed cows (not to be confused by pasteurized).   

When it comes to weighing the pro's and con's of organic vs. conventional produce, what's more important (at least to me) is the SECOND list, the list of things that are surprisingly untainted by pesticides for the most part, and this list includes:
  • asparagus
  • broccoli
  • cabbage
  • avocado
  • eggplant
  • mango
  • kiwi
  • onions
  • sweet potatoes
  • pineapples
  • tomatoes
  • watermelon
I've also recently heard Mark Sisson state that coconut is another product mostly untainted by pesticides.  Whew, because that organic coconut milk is ridiculously over-priced.  We're not looking at Bisphenol-A (BPA) or BHA/BHT here, so don't focus on that problem in this blog post.  That one's for some other time.

Now, both of the above lists are all about pesticides.  They are not any guarantee of nutritional value.  There are a million articles all over the internet lately on how organic-labelled produce is no more nutritious than conventional.  But we already knew that, right?  We don't recommend organic because of its nutritious qualities, we do it to reduce our exposure to any chemicals it was grown with.  If you want to read a bit more on the nutrition topic, this post by Mark Sisson really goes over the topic of nutrient quality.

The truth is that, when it comes to nutrition, fresh is what matters most--it is waaay more important than any organic label.  The closer that food is grown to home, the less time it travels to your table, the more nutritious it's going to be.  Those cherries from the orchard down the road are 10x as nutritious as those organic-labelled cherries at the grocery store that came all the way from Chili.  Which means you HAVE to buy only what's in season as much as possible.  Which probably works in California, but it's kinda challenging in Canada.  Our growing season in Ontario is 5 months long (and other provinces have far shorter growing seasons than we do here).  In October, the farmers markets all close down and its every-man-for-himself unless you live close to some place like the St Lawrence Market.  If you don't, it's grocery-store organic and your food could have traveled from the other side of the world to make it to your table and that organic kiwi you want to toss in a salad might just cost you $5 and still have almost no nutrients left in it anyways when compared to those non-organic strawberries that came from California, which are still less nutritious than the strawberries you picked yourself, in excess, and froze half of them last summer. So you begin to see why I don't always buy organic.  It's only half of the picture and its just not always feasible.

But I do champion the fight to make organic more feasible for more people.  That is a fight I can get behind.  People deserve to eat food that is uncontaminated by synthetic pesticides, they deserve fresh, affordable, and nutritous food.  Large families should not have to eat inferior food just because they have less money and more mouths to feed.  Local and organic foods should be the normal food sold everywhere, it should not be the exception to the rule, and yet it is.  Organic is something that only a select few can afford.

Organic is a choice, and it is not something that either makes you paleo, or not.  You have to decide what works for you, and what does not.  I ate conventional meats until I could find a good, affordable source for grass-fed.  It is much the same with organic produce.  I buy what I can afford, and I focus on the worst offenders first, and I don't sweat the rest.  I do what I can.  Organic isn't a bad idea.  At least, for some things it does seem to make sense.  Of course, knowing that doesn't help with the sticker shock of buying said organic item, so you really have to pick and choose what matters most to you personally, and to your family, when you consider buying organics.  Personally, I would put buying locally above buying organic, every time.  I want to support the small farms that surround my community, and I KNOW that they have not traveled far to my table.  I want to know where my food comes from, and everything else will follow.

So with all of that in mind, know that there are ways to make organic easier on the wallet, and more nutritious, including:
  • Shop your farmers markets whenever you can; often these items are priced fairly competitively, and they are always local and organic--a double bonus.  Plus, you are supporting your local farmers and local economy.  How can that go wrong?
  • Buy what's in-season--easier said than done in Canada, I know, but more and more organic farmers are using greenhouses to grow tender greens, making them in-season even in the wintertime.  
  • Buy from your local CSA.  There are tonnes around the Toronto area, and several in my area that actually deliver FOR FREE!  Depending on the CSA, some even let you tell them what you don't want in your box (potatoes and corn).  I will definitely be testing this out in 2013.   Looks like I'll be paying about $40/wk, which I already spend in the grocery store anyway, so I'm sold.  
  • Consider freezing and other means of preservation.  You'll thank yourself in the winter when you're still eating cheap local organic and everyone else is paying a fortune for theirs at the store...
  • Get to know your local farmers, and buy directly from the farmer.  It does take time to search out the farmers in the area, and get to know them, but it is so worth it.  Knowing your food's source is awesome.  I adore my grass-fed beef supplier, and have a couple of good sources for chicken, but I'm still looking for an affordable source of grass-fed pork and eggs at a price I can justify.  See?  No one is perfect at this.  It takes time to make these changes.
  • Join a buying group.  I cannot stress this one enough.  Why do all the research yourself when you can let someone else do the research for you?  Let them find the best sources and prices, and by buying in bigger groups, you're likely to get better and better prices.  It also means you don't have to buy a half cow all by yourself to get that great price.  
  • Buy an extra freezer--even a used freezer from some place like Kijiji.  So that when you find that elusive and awesome price, stock up!  (Know that a 7.5 cu ft freezer will not quite hold a half cow...maybe consider buying 2 freezers--one for a cow, and the other for everything else)

So with all of that in mind, the decision remains yours to make.  If I had a million dollars, would I buy nothing but organic?    Well, I'd probably buy MORE things organic than I do now, sure.  But I think I'd still rather focus my efforts on buying everything local, to meet all of the farmers in my region and find a way to have all my food brought straight from the farm to my house.  That would be sweet!

So here's the last question of the day...  I pose it to anyone out there who can answer me this--  why does my organic apple still feel like it has a wax coating on it?  Does anyone know?  Anyone???

Huh?  Don't believe everything you see.


Thanks for reading.








Friday 14 December 2012

Paleo Life presents.... MovNat

Ever wonder what MovNat is, really?

I know, I know, it's moving around REALLY SLOWLY, right?  In the woods?  Uh, no, actually, it's not.  It IS a series of movements, though, that are meant to make your body move the way it should move, and those moves can be joined together in a circuit for a workout that will have you seriously sweating.

So this half hour video (don't worry, I know it says its 15 minutes long, then the other one will start, honest!) is all about what Movnat is, what some of the moves are like, and at the end, a workout using them.

Try it, you'll like it!  I'll be incorporating more of these movements into my own workouts for sure!

And thank you Jonathan Randles, for taking the time to teach me.  His website and info is all at the end of the video, if you're in the GTA and interested in having him train you, too...





Thanks for watching Paleo Life!