As the name implies, these Lemon Cookie Cupcakes are somewhere in the Venn diagram of a Cookie and a Cupcake. Not that that makes them any less delicious! These guilt free treats (well, provided they are occasional treat, that is!) are delightfully light and lemony, and the coconut ‘icing’ makes them feel just a little indulgent. Enjoy!

Serves 12

Lemon Cookie Cupcake Ingredients:

• 1 ½ cups ground almonds
• 2 tbsps coconut flour
• Zest of 2 large lemons
• ¼ tsp baking soda
• 2 tbsps coconut oil
• 3 tbsps maple syrup
• ½ vanilla pod

For the icing:

• 1 can of chilled coconut milk
• Zest of 1 large lemon
• ½ vanilla pod

Lemon Cookie Cupcake How To:

For the Cupcakes:

Preheat oven to 180C / 350 F / Gas Mark 4

To make the cupcakes, combine the ground almonds, coconut flour, lemon zest and baking soda in a large bowl. Whisk together the coconut oil, maple syrup and vanilla to form a thick oil, and then gradually stir in to the dry ingredients.

Tightly press the cookie dough into 12 muffin cups, about an inch and a half high as the mixture will rise.

Bake in the oven for 10 – 12 minutes until golden brown.

For the cream icing:

Remove the can of coconut milk from the fridge. Drain off any excess liquid by pressing the lid firmly down into the can and tipping upside down (over the sink that is!)

Pour the remaining ‘more solid’ coconut cream into a large bowl, and add the lemon zest and vanilla. Whisk for 3 – 4 minutes, until soft and fluffy.

When the cupcakes are fully cooled, spoon 1 tbsp of the icing on to each cupcake. Leave in the fridge to set for about an hour. Sprinkle with toasted coconut, or grated lemon rind if you like, before serving.

The hardest part of this recipe for me was waiting for the cupcakes to cool! They just smelt so good, I may have eaten one straight from the oven. And yes, I did burn my mouth. Good things come to those who wait, don’t forget that folks!

Going Paleo yourself is the easy bit – getting the rest of your family on board can be more of a challenge. Little wonder than, that Paleo ideas for children’s school lunches is one of the top things I’m asked about. I’ve therefore come up with 79 different options for the kids school lunch box…

The school dinners served in so many schools seem to follow the government guidelines – and the food pyramid – and are often low fat, high in refined carbs and lacking in protein. Add to this the industrial seed oils, the feedlock meat of dubious origin and highly processed nature of many school meals, it’s little wonder more and more parents opt to send their kids to school with a homemade packed lunch.

I’ve read about some schools (in America) banning parents from sending their children in with food from home, to make sure the children eat the “healthy” school lunch – and don’t bring in bad food from home. Whilst I’m sure some parents do pack complete junk – I hope this move doesn’t become widespread, as it would put Paleo parents in a very difficult position.

Depending on the age of your child, and whether they’re in kindergarten, nursery, preschool, primary school – or are older, you’ll need to tweak your lunch offering accordingly. Some schools have blanket bans on any nuts in case of allergies, which would unfortunately rule out nuts, nut butters and many baked paleo goods (if they used nut flours). Hopefully your school rules and regulations won’t place too many restrictions on your kids and what you can bring…

Another key consideration is temperature. If you’re packing meat, you’ll want it to stay cool, so it’s a good idea to pack it with an ice pack in an insulated lunch box. Likewise, try a thermos flask if you want to serve hot foods like soup.

In terms of containers, whilst Tupperware and plastic lunch boxes do the job, my favourites are lunchbots stainless steel bento boxes. They’re easy to clean, light and won’t smash if dropped – and of course BPA free. Glass containers aren’t ideal for school – and brown bags aren’t so good for non-dry foods!

By getting the kids involved in choosing their lunch ingredients – and helping to pack them, they are far more likely to enjoy their lunch. Remember – it’s also better to overpack than under pack, this way if your child gets hungry, they’ll have their own food to eat, and you won’t risk the school giving them junk.

Making sure lunch is colourful, varied and well presented (you can even get bento cutters to cut vegetables into fun shapes), your children are less likely to be bothered that they aren’t eating the same as their SAD eating school friends. Including cocktail sticks and dips, is another way to introduce an element of fun to lunchtimes.

As a general rule, base lunch around the protein source (this is what will keep them going after lunch!), then choose a fat source – and fill up with vegetables and fruit. Fruit and carby veggies like sweet potatoes are often a good bet for children, who need a lot of ready energy.

Leftovers are obviously a great bet for lunch – but here are some other ideas:

Wraps and Sandwiches

There is no bread in any of these sandwich options! Make wraps using a flat wrap, around your child’s favourite filling. Some good wraps are:

• Nori (seaweed) wraps
• Coconut wraps
• Ham
• Sliced deli turkey
• Sliced beef
• Salami
• You can even use bacon as a wrap!
• Romaine, lettuce or cabbage are also good to use

If your wrap won’t stay shut, use a fresh chive, green onion or blanched scallion green to tie a knot around the wrap, keeping it in place.

• You can make sandwiches using a coconut flour or almond meal paleo bread recipe.

If you’re after something more alternative to sandwich a filling between, how about:

• Flat slice a capsicum (bell pepper)
• Slice a large portabella (flat) mushroom lengthways
• Simply use cucumber slices

Some other ideas along these lines include:

• Cheese (if your child tolerates dairy) on crackers – using dehydrated sweet potato slices as crackers
• Paleo sushi using nori and cauliflower rice

Protein Options

Protein is key, so try some of these options in your kid’s lunchbox:

• Canned wild salmon
• A tin of sustainable tuna
• Pepperoni
• Beef jerky
• Leftover roast chicken/ beef/ pork with sauce
• Meatballs in a tomato sauce
• Chicken drumsticks with dips
• Pork strips, pork crackling (serve with homemade apple sauce)
• Meat and Veggie wooden skewers
• Crispy chicken with a tomato dip
• A burger patty served with sweet potato fries (assuming your child will enjoy this cold!)
• Paleo sausages (get your butcher to make a batch up for you)
• Peeled hard boiled eggs (serve with bacon and avocado to make a breakfast at lunchtime!)

Something Special

For something a bit different, how about these ideas?

• A nice warm soup in a thermos
• A slice of Paleo pizza
• Crustless quiches (or egg muffins)
• Dates wrapped in prosciutto
• Cherry tomatoes stuffed with salmon and feta (if Primal)
• Pigs in blankets

Salads

Salads are a good summer option:

• Chicken salad with home made Paleo mayonnaise
• A simple egg salad

Natural Fat Sources

If the rest of lunch is looking a bit low on fat, add in one of these:

• An avocado (and a spoon!)
• Some olives
• Some fresh coconut

A Fermented Side

A portion of fermented food is another great kids lunch idea:

• Kimchi
• Sauerkraut
• Fermented pickles

Veggies

Veggies are a great way to finish off the lunch box. Fill it with:

• Fingers of carrots, celery, capsicum (bell peppers), broccoli, cauliflower & cucumber and dips
• Celery halves, with nut butter in the groove.

Kids Dips

With almost all of the lunch options, dips and sauces are great to provide on the side. Try making these:

• Guacomole
• Mustard
• Butter (especially if you’re serving veggies – and eat dairy, or course!)
• Mango or pineapple salsaPaleo mayonnaise
• Ranch dressing
• Nut butters
• Paleo tomato sauce
• A zucchini hummus

Child Friendly Fruit

Fruit is another good group to choose from. How about:

• Banana
• Cherries
• Cut watermelon
• Grapes
• Apple and cheese (if Primal)
• Fruit on a wooden stick
• Apple and almond butter stacks

Dried Fruit

For a very sweet treat, dried fruit is a nice option:

• Dried apples
• Dried mango
• Dates
• Raisins or sultans (be very careful with the ingredients – many brands use “vegetable” oil!)

Chips

When lots of your childs friends may be having chips (crisps), perhaps your child might enjoy something similar?

• Kale chips
• Plantin chips

Something Chocolatey

A very small portion of one of these, is a good occasional treat:

• A square of dark chocolate
• Chocolate avocado mousse
• Homemade dark chocolate almonds

Yoghurts/ Creamy treats

Some other good options for a sweet treat:

• Berries & cream (if your child has dairy), or
• Berries in coconut cream (or coconut milk)
• Coconut yoghurt
• Plain Greek yoghurt (if Primal) with fruit and nuts

A few more lunch treats

A few final treats to occasionally include in your child’s lunchbox:

• Homemade Larabars
• Grain free granola
• Coconut flakes
• Coconut flour muffins
• Paleo trail mix
• A mix of almonds, dark chocolate chips and coconut flakes.

What’ve I missed? I’d love to hear what you pack for lunch – and what you child is most excited to be given? Also, how does your child deal with peer pressure (if it exists at their school)?

Earthy and wholesome, these sweet potatoes make a lovely side dish to chicken, pork or lamb. Add red and green capsicum (bell peppers) for a real explosion of colour!

Sauteed Sweet Potato Ingredients:

• 2 sweet potatoes, peeled and diced into 1cm cubes
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 1 clove garlic, peeled and finely chopped
• 2cm knob of ginger, chopped
• Coconut Oil
• 1 tsp turmeric
• A pinch of cayenne pepper
• Juice of ½ lemon

Sauteed Sweet Potato How To:

1)     Heat a pan to a medium heat with a little coconut oil.

2)     In a bowl, combine the onions and sweet potatoes with the lemon, turmeric and cayenne. Add the garlic and ginger and mix together.

3)     Fry for about 10 minutes, until the potatoes are nice and crispy.

Don’t forget to share in the comments what you enjoyed them with!

If the body is not able to burn glucose in the body, it goes on the search for another energy source to burn which happens to be fat. As fatty acids are burned, the body creates ketones which are compounds which can then lead to ketosis. If you are looking to lose weight quickly, you will want your body to go into ketosis, so that you are using your storage of fat and burning it at a much quicker rate than you usually would.

When you are eating a diet which is quite low in carbs, as the Paleo diet can be, ketosis will usually start in your body, which means you will be burning more fat than you would with a high carb diet.

As the Paleo diet involves eating the types of food our ancestors survived on, there is no harm in following a low carbohydrate as these foods were not freely available at that time and it didn’t cause problems back then, so won’t cause them now. As with nutrients and vitamins on the Paleo diet, it is important to keep the levels of ketones in the diet at the right level. It is all about balance and being aware of exactly what we are consuming. You really need to keep track of the ketones in the body and this is even more significant for those who suffer from any serious illnesses, such as diabetes. As with any kind of diet, you should always monitor your levels so that you know you are getting it right and feeling the benefits on your body.

When you initially start a low carb diet such as the Paleo, you will feel some side effects as your body is basically getting used to a new way of using your energy source. You can feel a little dizzy or have symptoms such as a sore head, although these should only be temporary. The body is starting to burn fat rather than glucose, so it is bound to take a bit of getting used to. It is not harmful in any way as you are still getting a good intake of carbohydrates from your fruit and vegetables. Your body is basically going through a state of withdrawals and a withdrawal from anything will cause changes in the bodies.

It is believed that the Paleo diet can actually help to stave off Type 2 Diabetes as it is a much healthier way of living. It is a common misconception that by lowering your carbohydrate level, you are starving your body of what you need, but this is not the case at all. Your body has too little insulin when you don’t follow the correct diet and eat too much of the wrong foods. It can also be the result of stress or another illness which causes insulin levels to lower.

The Paleo diet improves insulin in the body, which is the reason why it can help to prevent diabetes developing. If ketone levels reach a dangerously high level, it can increase the likelihood of suffering from serious illnesses such as diabetes. The reason why we should avoid the carbohydrate laden, processed foods is that they are dangerous and unhealthy and the Paleo diet can help us to create the perfect balance.

It is believed that the Paleo diet and a ketogenic diet can also be beneficial for improving the likelihood of suffering from Alzheimer’s and other mental health conditions. As with any diet, you don’t just want to feel the benefits of your hard work, you also want to see them, which is why the Paleo concentrates on a reduced intake of carbohydrates. If you always wondered why a diet with fewer carbohydrates helps you to burn calories, now you know, it’s because of the ketones!

As long as you carefully monitor everything you are putting into your body, you will soon feel a lot healthier than ever before. It is all about eating the right foods with the Paleo diet and making sure the balance is as it should be, so that we are in taking the right amount of all the proper nutrients, vitamins and compounds which will create a much healthier immune system and a longer and healthier life.

Not only is this soup wonderfully creamy and comforting, it comes with an added zing courtesy of the lime and chilli. Perfect for a cold day!

I always multiply up the ingredients to the size of my largest pan. Any soup that I won’t use, I then freeze into individual portion sizes, making lots of ready prepared meals I can just heat up – or take into work.

Soup Ingredients:

• 1 small pumpkin, deseeded and cut into wedges
• ½ butternut squash, as above
• 4 – 5 sprigs of fresh thyme
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 700ml water
• Juice of 2 limes
• 1 teaspoon of cumin
• 1 teaspoon of coriander
• 1 teaspoon dried chilli flakes
• Salt and black pepper

 Soup How To:

1)     Heat the oven to 180C / 350F / gas mark 4. Place the wedges of pumpkin and squash into a roasting dish, coat with the olive oil and season with salt and black pepper. Roast for around 45 minutes until really soft and tender (this may take a little longer depending on the size of your veggies) then remove from the oven and leave to cool.

2)     Scrape the flesh away from the wedges into a large pan. Add the water and the spices, and blend well with an immersion blender.

3)     Heat through, then stir in the lime juice. Season to taste and enjoy.

What is your favourite soup?

Szechuan pepper has to one of the most fun ingredients to cook with. Nicknamed ‘the tongue numbing flower pepper,’ this pepper is delightfully floral and leaves a distinct tingle in the mouth. It is also known to enhance certain taste receptors, often making the foods around it taste slightly sweeter! It works great with other spices like star anise, or in this case, Chinese 5 spice.

Szechuan Stir Fry Ingredients:

• 500g lean beef strips
• 1 red capsicum (bell pepper), deseeded and chopped into strips
• 1 zucchini (courgette), thinly sliced
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic, crushed
• 2 tsp freshly ground Szechuan pepper
• 1 tsp Chinese 5 spice
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 400g pak choi
• Juice of 1 lime

Stir Fry How To:

1)     Heat a little oil in a frying pan to a medium heat. Brown the onions, then add the zucchini and red capsicum and stir fry for a minute or so until softened. Set aside.

2)     In a bowl, combine the Szechuan pepper, 5 spice and ginger with the crushed garlic and lime juice to make a marinade. Toss over the beef, coating well.]

3)     Raise the heat of the pan to high. Throw in the beef and stir fry for a couple of minutes – ideally, it will be cooked medium when served.

4)     While the beef is cooking, wash the pak choi and separate the leaves. Lightly steam over some boiling water for 2 – 3 minutes.

5)     Return the vegetables to the pan, add the lime juice, and fry for another minute or so (longer if you like your beef more well done). Remove from the pan, and serve with the steamed pak choi

What are your favourite stir fry ingredients?

If you enjoyed the Paleo Summit, or last year’s Real Food Summit, you’ll be excited to hear about this year’s summit. This year, it’s all about natural sexual health, with Sean Croxton’s FREE SexyBack Summit!

Instead of solving problems with pills, the SexyBack summit is going to explore natural ways of solving sexual health related issues. For women, issues like PMS, frequent UTIs, yeast infections, fertility, or even a non-existent libido will be addresses – and for men low testosterone, high estrogen, E.D. and a dwindling sex drive will be explored. Balancing hormones, nutrition and fitness are all going to be covered. As people are reluctant to talk about a lot of these issues, they don’t seek help and let these issues remain needlessly. Well, not anymore!

If you missed out on last year’s presentations, here’s how the summit works… Sean has put together 24 presentations (videos you can watch at home, with slideshows). The talks are hosted by all different experts, including by Chris Kresser, Dr. Sara Gottfried, Paul Check, Jane Bennett, Dave Asprey, Alisa Vitti, Elliot Hulse and Dr. Jen Landa. From the first day of the summit on the 19th of May, until the last day on the 26th of May, there will be three to four new videos everyday. The videos are free for you to watch for 24 hours, before they’re replaced with the next days scheduled videos. So you can watch the entire event – and all 24 presentations – completely free of charge!

If you want to reserve your free spot on the SexyBack summit, just click here to register! You’ll also get access to some (free) advanced videos that are showing now.

No matter what type of food we eat, we can’t avoid Lectins as they are in absolutely everything we consume on a daily basis. Lectins are proteins which are found in animals, plants and our very own bodies and they have a number of functions which offer a means of protection to us. They can help to control the protein levels in humans but are also protective for plants as well. It is also thought that the right Lectins can also be beneficial in acting as a defense mechanism against serious illnesses, such as cancer.

Lectins can be useful for the body, but they can also be damaging, depending on the type of Lectin. There are many different types of Lectins found in different foods, so it is important to ensure we are taking in the right ones which offer the best benefits to our bodies. The function of Lectins also depend a lot of the individual and how sensitive their digestive system is as to how they will react to specific types of Lectins. The foods which contain particularly harmful Lectins include grains and legumes, which is why they are forbidden on the Paleo diet. These foods have the potential to destroy all of the good nutrients and vitamins in your body which makes you more susceptible to suffering from serious illnesses, such as heart disease and obesity.

If you consume the wrong Lectins and your body rejects these, it will also start rejecting all the good foods you eat, which means they will be of no benefit to you whatsoever. In order for the body to function effectively, it is essential that we absorb the right minerals and nutrients, which is why it is important to avoid legumes and grains on the Paleo diet. There are plenty of foods which contain Lectins which are good for our body and act as a way of protecting it, so it is important to be aware of the right foods to eat in order to get the most out of our bodies and feel as healthy as we can.

Gluten is one of the harmful Lectins that can cause a lot of problems with the digestive system, which is why many people who have particularly sensitive guts have to eat gluten-free foods. Gluten-free foods are becoming standard in supermarkets and restaurants these days, which shows how much of a problem gluten can be. Gluten is often found in wheat products including the high sugar and high fat foods we are advised to avoid as part of the Paleo diet. These harmful Lectins can attack the body and cause a lot of damage to the intenstine which results in a leaking gut, not to mention a lot of pain. Bad Lectins can completely destroy the immune system, leading to issues such as extreme weight loss, diarrohea and sickness. It can also cause more serious illnesses, such as diabetes.

There are ways of reducing the presence of bad Lectins in legumes and grains, including soaking and soaking them, but it won’t completely destroy them so it is much better to avoid them completely. The Paleo diet encourages the avoidance of these food groups for a reason; they are not good for the body.

Nuts and seeds also contain Lectins but again, they are only beneficial to the body if you eat these in moderation. There are many of us who can’t stop eating nuts when we start, so if this sounds like you, it is best to just avoid eating them. There are plenty of nutritious foods on the Paleo diet which will offer good Lectins as well as plenty of other important vitamins and nutrients which are essential for a healthy body.

Overall, Lectins won’t pose problems for most people, but there are a number of people who have particularly sensitive guts, which means the bad Lectins, such as those found in grains and legumes can end up causing issues with the digestive system. Sufferers of a sensitive gut are not always born with this; it can develop over a number of years and become a worse problem in later life. It is better to completely avoid these, which is why the Paleo diet is such a beneficial one to follow.

Do you avoid lectins, or prepare foods to minimise their effect?

It’s no secret that living Paleo can sometimes leave us longing for a thick, creamy, indulgent dip for crudités, sweet potato fries or even barbequed meat. Baba Ganoush has to be one of the best things you can do with an aubergine – so good, in fact, it’ll have your non-paleo friends throwing away their hummus and sour cream and raiding your fridge instead.

Baba Ganoush Ingredients:

• 2 large aubergines
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• A small handful fresh parsley, finely chopped
• A small handful fresh coriander, finely chopped
• Juice of half a lemon
• 2 tbsp cashew nut butter
• 1tsp cumin
• Olive oil
• Salt and pepper

Baba Ganoush How To:

To roast your aubergines, preheat your oven to 180C / 350F / Gas Mark 4. Cut the aubergines into halves, removing the stem. Scoop out the seeds, then cut into half again. Lightly score the flesh with a sharp knife, being careful not to cut too deep. Pop into a roasting dish, drizzle with a little olive oil, salt and pepper, then roast for approximately 30 minutes until tender. Leave to cool.

Peel off the skin of the aubergines. Chop into chunks, and drain off any excess liquid. Throw into a food processor, and blitz with the cashew nut butter and lemon juice.

When smooth in texture, but not too fine, throw in the garlic, herbs, and cumin. Blitz again just enough to combine the flavours. Remove from the food processor and serve.

Having been to many Paleo events, and being involved in some of the Paleo meetup groups, I highly recommend putting some events into your calendar!

When you eat differently to your friends and family, an evening out with like minded people can make all the difference in terms of encouragement and support. I also find local events are the best way to find out about places to eat – and where other locals buy their Paleo supplies from.

Head over to the brand new What’s On page, where you’ll find all of the Paleo events going on where you live – and around the World. Some events are definitely worth travelling for!

The best way to attend Paleo events is to sign up to a meetup group in your area. If there isn’t a meetup group yet, then it’s easy to create your own (and if you do, please come back and tell me about it, so I can add your events to the Paleo calendar!)

There are so many events scheduled now. From big, formal conferences, lectures and symposiums – to small casual after work dinners, in local Paleo friendly restaurants, there is something for everyone. Our local Sydney Paleo meetup group has organised barbecues, picnics, pot lucks and dinners. The Melbourne group have regular classes to teach you how to make your owned fermented foods. As Paleo continues to get more and more popular, we should see even more Paleo events in the calendar.

The Paleo Calendar features all of the events in Australia (there are now ten Paleo meet-up groups in the country, at least one in every state!), New Zealand (Auckland and Wellington), the UK (London, Birmingham & Milton Keynes), Canada (Toronto) and of course America (there are LOTS of events and meetup groups in the USA!). If I’m missing your event or meetup group, please let me know!

Are you a member of a Paleo meetup group? What type of Paleo events would you like to attend – and which events have you been to so far?