Linktastics

Why am I not surprised?!  Monsanto doesn't eat their own product.

Dr. Kurt G Harris discusses Paleo 2.0.  A really good read, I thoroughly enjoyed this post as I do most of his posts.

Primal Body Primal Minds Nora Gedgaudas looks at the Top 10 Nutritional Mistakes. 

If you haven't installed F.lux on your computer yet, may I recommend you do so.  I've been using it for a month now, my eyes are less strained and I get to sleep quicker at night.  "F.lux makes the colour of your display adapt to the time of day, warm at night and like sunlight during the day."

The Wilderness Childe shows us how to make our own Spice Blends.

Eggs are probably my favourite food, so versatile and incredibly delicious.  Everyday Paleo has me really excited to try these Baked Eggs!

Imagine a World of Bacon!

*A Side Note*:  As of Monday, April 4th my husband and I will be in Japan for 3 weeks, so there won't be any posts during this time.  I am so thankful for those of you who drop by every now and wish you lots of good eats and good health while I'm gone.

All the best and I'll be back around the end of April :)

A Must Watch and Some News!

Just a quick post tonight for those interested.  If you have some time, please take (a little over) two hours to view the following video.  It's lengthy, but the information is incredible and really enjoyable to watch.

Sponsored by the Weston A Price Foundation, a panel of nutritional experts discuss the many flaws of the 2010 USDA Dietary Guidelines and misuse of science to promote these guidelines.

For those of you new to Paleo and are unfamiliar with the work of Weston A Price, you can visit the Weston A Price Foundation. 

On a side note, I'm thrilled to announce that I received my acceptance letter from the Institute of Holistic Nutrition and will be starting school this September.  It's kind of scary going back to school after graduating College 10 years ago, but I'm definitely ready for a change and the challenge.

Recipe: Spicy Shrimp

It's been a little while since I posted a recipe so I planned with my husband tonight to make my Spicy Shrimp.  This recipe is from my mother and I've adapted it over the years adding even more spices to make the flavour all my own.  It seems like a lot of ingredients and most of your time will be spent measuring out the spices, but the cooking time is really quick.

Make sure you get everything together before hand.

Spicy Shrimp

spinach, mushrooms and butter

26-30 Black Tiger Shrimp, peeled and tails removed

2 generous handfuls of baby spinach
2 portobello mushrooms, cubed
1/4 cup butter plus 2 tbsp
1 tsp cayenne
1 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper
1/2 tsp dried thyme

spices

1/2 tsp dried rosemary
1/8 tsp dried oregano
1/8 tsp cumin
1/8 tsp turmeric
1/4 tsp dried ginger
1 tsp curry powder
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1/4 cup of water, white wine or stock of your choice

melted butter & garlic

On medium heat, melt the 1/4 cup of butter and add the garlic.  Saute mushrooms and spinach and set aside on a plate.

Add the extra 2 tbsp of butter to the pan with all of the spices and 1/4 cup liquid (I used water for this recipe).  Turn temperature to medium high heat and add shrimp.

Saute shrimp until opaque in the centre.  Reduce heat to minimum.

sauteed mushrooms & spinach

Add the mushrooms and spinach back to the shrimp and mix together.  As most of the spinach wilted with the first saute, I threw in another handful of spinach in and stirred through.  I like some larger leaves in the final dish.

shrimp gettin' some love

Adding the veg back in

Snow peas work really well in this dish as well as asparagus and cherry tomatoes.  Try out your own combination of spices . If it's too spicy, reduce the cayenne and black pepper or omit the red pepper flakes.  For a different take, remove the curry, turmeric and cumin.  The possibilities are endless :)

Bon Appetit!

LINKtastics

I thought I'd start a new feature I'll refer to as LINKtastics.  A sort of link dump of interesting articles and blog entries I've happened across.

I really like this article from the New York Times and it reminds me a lot of what my mother taught my sister and I growing up.  My mother relayed that we should be just as thankful to the plants we kill and eat as much as the animals we dine on.

Mark Sisson got me thinking about buying some crickets for my cats to hunt.  Although I consider them really happy kitties, I think a hunt would do them good!  He also asks us to look at our own personal crickets; what makes you feel like the wild animal that you are?  My personal crickets are my need to be surrounded by trees every chance I can.  I feel incredibly alive around trees and have since I was a kid.  Wooded areas are awesome and I always feel a sense of calm.  Also eating lots of meat and animal fat has always been a passion of mine, even when it was faux pas.

Earlier this month, Gary Taubes visited Dr. Oz to discuss Gary's new book Why We Get Fat.  I don't have TV, but managed to catch it Dr. Oz's website.  Needless to say, it was painful to watch, but Gary kept his ground (good man!).  Gary discusses on his blog his experience on the show and goes into more detail about the points he made.

Free Thinking Cavewoman asks us to think about our Primal attractions in regards to personal upkeep.  To shave or not to shave?

Thank you

My apologies for the lack of posts recently.  Some of you may already know that my husband and I have had a trip booked to Japan for sometime and we've been very excited.  We're booked to leave April 4th and return on the 21st.  With recent events with the earthquake, tsunami and radioactive leakage, we've been keeping a close eye on the events and this has occupied much of our time.  We've cancelled our hotel in Tokyo and plan to just visit the Central and Western parts of the country.  Friends currently there have advised that things are fine in these parts.



FATastic!



I want to thank those of you who follow my blog.  I've been very excited over the response these past several weeks, thanks in part to Everyday Paleo for placing me on their blog roll. I am so happy that you guys are swinging by to read my recipes and paleo/primal experiences.  I really appreciate it so incredibly much.  Your interest even inspired me to design a new page header. That well marbled steak is a tribute to our paleo lifestyle.  Look at all that grass fed animal fat!  YUM!

I'll do my best to write a post or two before I go.  If you're interested in the more personal and artsy side of my life, I posted about my Japan trip intentions on my other blog.

Thanks again and please stand by.

Much Love,

K@

Hulk Smash

I need my vacation now more than ever.  In three and a half weeks, Robert and I will be leaving for our long awaited departure to Japan.  Our Itinerary is 95% complete with the exception of booking the hotels for our 4 night stay in Tokyo and 1 night stay in Hiroshima.

I'm very tired and overwhelmed between work, my application to school and planning this vacation.  Robert pointed out to me the other night that I've been doing an occasional Jekyll & Hyde dance for the past few weeks.  One minute I'm fine, content and cheery and the next minute I'm ready to smash heads.  This is how I know I'm a wee bit burnt out. . . or just plain crazy.  I know what you're thinking . . "she's hormonal" and "it must be that time of the month".  It's really not, but now you're probably thinking "denial is a common sign of crazy hormonal rages".  Really, I'm not.

I've been looking at ways to deal with my recent stress.  Before paleo, I would just eat to my hearts content.  Sweets and breads always hit the spot and made me feel good for the moment, but then I'd end up feeling like crap with headaches and general blah.  I don't have cravings for those things anymore (thank goodness) but I still need ways to cope with my stress.

I've tried meditating and breathing which works for a bit but then I start thinking about all the things I still have to accomplish.  My mind wanders quickly and during times like this I find it more frustrating to focus on my breath then just deal with my tasks.  But, I like the idea of meditation and will continue to practice.  I understand it takes time to get into a groove.

I listen to classical music, which helps a lot as well as laying on the couch and watching a feel good movie or listening to my 'go to' paleo podcasts.  And I suppose writing this blog post is even a bit therapeutic at the moment.  Now that I think about it, I'm actually starting to feel a little better and I think I'll cut this short and relax.

Thank you for listening :)

The Breakfast Hors D'oeuvre



It didn't dawn on me until I had one left on my plate that I should post these.  Homemade egg salad on top of lovely crisp bacon.  They were really really good and I was really happy with my very first batch of homemade mayonnaise (recipe to follow in the near future).  I usually like to test recipes out a few times before I post them, just in case they require any tweaking.



This however, I just threw together this morning and decided last minute that I needed to share it with you. 



Mmmmm





What you'll need:

2 Hard Boiled Eggs*
1 heaping Tbsp of Homemade Mayo
1 Green Onion, chopped
2 strips of Bacon, cut in half

*I usually have hard boiled eggs on hand in the fridge for impromptu snacking and salad editions.

• Cook bacon strips on medium heat until crisp and set aside on a paper towel.
• In a bowl, smash your eggs and add the mayo and chopped green onion.  Stir with love.
• Add a tablespoon of Egg Salad to the bacon and garnish with some fresh ground pepper.
• Enjoy!

Happily Serves 1

You can, of course, cook more bacon and boil more eggs to serve more people.  A sprig of fresh dill would also compliment this nicely.



The other side of Mmmmm