Passionately Paleo!

Two years!

2013-01-26T18:48:00.000-05:00

This week marks our two year anniversary of changing our lifestyle. In the grand scheme of things it's been pretty easy. Definitely the first 3 months were the hardest while adjusting both in what we ate and our mental attitude. Everyone asks about our success and how we did it,..but then gets that spacey far away look as soon as I say "I lost 70 lbs without exercising, counting a calorie, or concerning myself with portion size,.. - simply by removing sugar, grains, gluten, and processed foods from my diet. I eat whole real foods without ingredient labels as often as possible." - then I get the "oh no,...I can't give up my ______! (insert breads, grains, pasta, beer, cookies). And then the conversation ends because I have no interest in wasting my breath. All my friends who have incorporated clean eating into their lifestyles have all also seen great improvements and they make me so proud!

My blood work looks great. I don't fear the slightly higher total cholesterol number that showed marked improvement after I incorporated regular exercise into my life starting in march of 2012.

My husband and I's two year anniversary photos

So we are at two years full steam ahead! We are now close to having our children completely transitioned over as well, which was our big goal for the start of 2013.

The Past:

The Present:

Right now we are doing a Whole30+60 to get ready for Primal Con 2013 in Oxnard, CA this April ;-) Really looking forward to that experience!

-PP

Vanilla Extract gifts

2013-01-26T13:38:00.001-05:00

I wanted to update my Vanilla Extract post from back in April.

We really have enjoyed the process and now the product of having homemade pure vanilla extract on hand at all times. We let it age for 9 months in our cool basement and gave them out as gifts this holiday season. I was pretty pleased with how it turned out, except for the labels being a little too dark. I had designed and printed them using zazzle.com (for under $10) so I couldn't complain much (my fault). The 4oz bottles I purchased on Ebay for about $28. All in all the project turned out to be more expensive than I had planned - but I was very pleased to be able to hand out a nice quality homemade gift.

Homemade Vanilla Extract

What's for Dinner: 09/15/12

2012-09-15T20:32:00.000-04:00

Smoked BBQ pork ribs and home grown green beans sauteed with onion and cherry tomatoes

Modern wheat a "perfect, chronic poison"

2012-09-04T08:44:00.000-04:00

Great concise information in recent TV interview with author of Wheat Belly.

What's for Dinner: 09/02/12

2012-09-04T08:36:00.000-04:00

Pulled Pork with zucchini and yellow squash with homemade fresh from garden marinara

Joe Rogan || Rethink your life || HD (Original)

2012-09-02T21:18:00.001-04:00

~~~~~ WARNING ~~~~~

GRAPHIC (yet typical Joe Rogan) LANGUAGE
(meaning do NOT hit play if the F-word offends you)

What's for Dinner: 09/01/12

2012-09-02T17:21:00.002-04:00

Sauteed sweet basil sausage, sugar snap pea, onion, carrot, pepper, tomato, and white eggplant served over spaghetti squash,, yumble!

Gender Differences in Fat Metabolism

2012-08-22T10:25:00.001-04:00

What a girl likes to read! A little extra is ok ;-)

Gender Differences in Fat Metabolism

What's for dinner: 08/14/12

2012-08-14T21:13:00.003-04:00

Pastured pork loin with mashed Kerrygold and garlic cauliflower and homemade salsa

What's for dinner: 08/13/12

2012-08-13T19:52:00.003-04:00

Dragon spice shrimp and chicken stir fry

What's for dinner: 08/08/12

2012-08-08T20:18:00.000-04:00

fresh salsa (just made!) w/grass-fed ground bison and beef burgers topped with goat's milk mild cheddar cheese, sauteed onions, turkey egg, and sliced avocado

What's for dinner 08/07/12

2012-08-07T21:01:00.003-04:00

Pan seared wild caught salmon with arame and ginger sauerkraut, lemon butter asparagus and some garden fresh yellow tomato slices

picture of the day: Local farm eggs

2012-08-07T17:02:00.000-04:00

Local farm - Chicken, Guinea, and Turkey Eggs

-PP

What's fer dinner?

2012-07-30T20:10:00.002-04:00

We had Grilled Cod w/ homemade BBQ sauce over "Zughetti" noodles, tomatoes and onion from the garden.. gotta eat that fish! Hubby's recipe here

Looking for a new challenge?

2012-07-30T13:05:00.000-04:00

Last year at this time we took part in a Volunteer Vacation sponsored by the American Hiking Society and The North Face.

What are Volunteer Vacations?
Volunteer Vacations are a series of trail building projects on America's public lands. Each crew consists of 6-15 volunteers accompanied by a crew leader. Trips involve backpacking or day hiking and accommodations vary from primitive campsites to bunkhouses or cabins. Tools and supervision are provided by the host agency or organization. More than a program that rehabilitates trails, Volunteer Vacations fosters public land stewardship and provides volunteers the opportunity to give back to the trails they love, meet new people, and have a great time doing it!

Basically you buy a yearly membership into the American Hiking Society, that among other benefits allows you to book a volunteer vacation through their site. When the trip list for the year first comes out there are many destinations and activity levels to choose from. They range from West Virginia to the US Virgins Islands, Alaska and even Hawaii,... and fitness skills level from easy to strenuous. Some trips are primitive tent camping and some have cabin accommodations and everything in between. I believe your travel expenses are tax deductible as well as some other expenses. Meals are provided during the trip. You can go as a single, couple, friends, and some trips are even family friendly for older children to be included.

We had a great time on our trip last year - you can read more about it here on The North Face's blog

Canaan Valley, WV - Black Water Falls

When we get the chance to do it again,...I'm thinkin Hawaii,.or St John USVI,...extended a few days on the flip side for "recovery" purposes ;-)

-PP

17 months into our journey

2012-07-27T16:13:00.002-04:00

I have not been posting any pictures on this blog at first because I wasn't ready and then waiting for a big reveal ,...so we had that today being featured as a success story on Mark's Daily Apple website

read more here :-)

we could not be happier with our progress thus far, and as always its a journey and we will continue on it,... always improving and tweaking what works for us and our family in this new lifestyle :-)

Here's one of my favorite pictures from the last year

I would like to lose another 10-15 lbs ,....but if it happens, it happens. We recently finished up a very clean Whole30 and i only lost about 3-4 lbs,...and that was the cleanest I could eat. I will continue to workout and walk and if the weight comes off then great,..if not I am happy to continue to become more fit and toned.

I know Ed is happy where he is at and expects to gain some weight back while adding muscle

-PP

Homemade Vanilla Extract Revisited

2012-07-27T10:12:00.000-04:00

Back in April I started a homemade vanilla extract project (April's post) and I'm pleased report it has been a great success! The smell of the homemade vanilla is A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! I mean just taking a sniff I want to drink, bathe, and wallow in it. There are few smells as heavenly as homemade vanilla extract I have decided. The color is deep and rich and all the alcohol smell is gone. So now that it's finished, you simply strain, drain, and refill with new vodka and let the beans do their magic again. From what I have read the vanilla beans can be used in more than one batch - so I guess that's the next experiment :-)

-PP

2012-05-23T16:03:00.003-04:00

Wise words from a SUPER smart man!

-PP

Homemade Vanilla Extract

2012-04-23T20:05:00.000-04:00

Making homemade vanilla extract is so much easier than you think! We started out new extract project to save money and to make sure we were getting a pure and quality extract for our occasional gluten free baked goods. All you need to start is vanilla beans and vodka. I found good prices on ebay buying in a larger quantity. Here is the EBAY seller I used - shipping was VERY fast and they included a few free beans! The vodka was 80 proof obtained at the local liquor store - they say the cheap stuff is just fine.

DAY # 1

You simply cut or split the whole beans exposing the vanilla seeds on the inside of the pod and place in glass bottle of vodka. The bottle needs to have a tight fitting lid and enough vodka in it to cover the beans. It needs to be stored in a cool dark place and every few days you give the bottle a shake, within 2-3 months you have pure homemade vanilla extract with no additives!

DAY # 10

Here's is another blog post with additional info and pictures:

http://www.diynatural.com/homemade-vanilla-extract/

I'll report back in a few months when our first batch is complete - I'm thinking about doing more and bottling it for holiday gifts!

-PP

Read about my North Face Volunteer Vacation last year!

2012-04-18T13:46:00.003-04:00

PlanetExplore Sweepstakes winner dishes on her experience at Canaan Valley, WV

2012-04-01T20:57:00.001-04:00

Very happy to see this report tonight on 60 Minutes acknowledging the toxic nature of sugar.

Sugar: The Bitter Truth

2012-04-01T20:52:00.002-04:00

This video is over an hour - but it could very well be the most important video you watch,...ever,....

Make your own Kombucha!

2012-03-16T13:25:00.013-04:00

Here is our home brewed kombucha that we have been tending to for a couple months now. After reading about the possible health benefits of kombucha, we tried out a few different commercial brands at the health food store (very expensive!) and decided to start brewing our own at home. First, you have to find a person willing to give or sell you a scoby starter. After having no luck around here, we ended up buying one off of Ebay, which worked out just fine for us, but I have read mixed reviews from others. You can also search your local farmers markets, Craigslist, Locavore email groups, or maybe you have a kombucha mentor already brewing.

The person you get your baby scoby from should be able to give you directions on how they started out with theirs (brew methods vary from person to person). Now that we have a routine down, we spend about 30 minutes every 7 days brewing new tea, mixing in the sugar, and replacing the "mother scoby" into the new batch. We bottle up the ready-to-go batch and enjoy it over the week. We have tried several different types of teas in our Kombucha such as green, black and yerba and are now keeping better records to see which we like best.

The whole kombucha brewing process seems a little overwhelming at first, but like everything, once you go through the routine a few times it begins to seem like 2nd nature. I have always been super funny about things left out on the counter overnight, fermented foods, etc, so I really surprised myself about how willing I was to take on and consume something that looks very alien and just seems wrong at the beginning. As far as health benefits I can't say 100% what they have been, but it is nice to have an alternative other than water to drink. I do feel strongly that it has helped me in the intestinal tract and keeps things healthy and regular.

All I can say is its just one of those things that make you feel better just by drinking it :-)

-PP

Will Eating Red Meat Kill You? | Mark's Daily Apple

2012-03-14T13:09:00.003-04:00

Once again, this Mark's Daily Apple article provides a great breakdown of the recent "study" finding that red meat is bad for you.

Will Eating Red Meat Kill You? | Mark's Daily Apple

-pp

What's Really Making Us Fat?

2012-03-12T12:11:00.001-04:00

What's Really Making Us Fat? - The Atlantic

-PP