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Archive for the ‘Food’ Category

I’m addicted to Avocado Soup!

Tuesday, May 21st, 2013

Avocado

I failed rather miserably on my first two big attempts to be Paleo. On the first one, I had not planned ahead and I was tempted to the dark side by cakes and birthdays and there was no turning back. The second time, I went in with more of a plan and challenged myself (along with the challenge at The Cave) to 30 days. The timing was great, but by day 20 I was feeling rather weak and by day 27 (just 3 days short of the challenge) I could hardly work out. Roger thought I was probably deprived of fats. That day I went home and devoured some cheddar cheese and felt much better and stronger. But I failed.

So try three comes along and this time I planned to eat an avocado a day for the entire month to help my fat intake. I was also at this stage eating two tablespoons of chia (Mila brand… the shiny purple bags on your way to the bathroom) a day in my water and not having hunger cravings as it really does fill me up. The combination of the daily chia and the daily avocado made the 30 days a breeze. I was 100% Paleo for the 30 days and felt great! I have continues with the Paleo lifestyle, the daily chia, and never turn down an avocado. So I was super thrilled to try out the Avocado Soup recipe from “Cooking in The Cave” page 18.

Avocado Soup
Kitchen time: 30 minutes
Servings: 4

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, loosely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 medium avocados, ripe and peeled
2 cups chicken (or veggie) stock (broth can also be substituted, but then do not add the salt)
1 cup coconut milk (I have substituted coconut cream as well and that was yummy)
¼ cup fresh cilantro, loosely chopped (I freeze cilantro and use that too)
¼ cup fresh lime juice
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ground cumin
½ teaspoon oregano
¼ teaspoon cayenne

optional garnish: diced tomato and or diced mango!

Recipe:
With heat set to medium, place oil, onions and garlic in frying pan and sauté until soft (about 5 minutes)

Place sautéed mix in large capacity blender or food processor along with avocado, stock, coconut milk, cilantro, lime juice and seasonings. Blend until smooth.

Adjust seasonings and serve immediately or chilled with optional garnish.

I make this dish two or three times a week and need only make sure I have ripe avocados and fresh limes as everything else I generally have stocked in the house. The kitchen time says 30 minutes, but I think with my high speed Vitamix that I can get everything made in 20 minutes as I rush off to my meeting with my green soupy lunch. I made this for all of our teachers for teachers appreciation week (served in big jars) and have served it at a number of dinner and lunch gatherings. As I mentioned, I am rather addicted and it helps me maintain my fat intake and strength as well!

Workout for May 21, 2013:

A) Review bench press and spotting

B) Bench press: 5-5-3-3-1-1-1 (record it on the PR spreadsheet).

C) “3-Minute Grace” Scale weight to allow each person to complete 30 clean and jerks in approximately 3-minutes.

D) 10-minute AMRAP: run 200m, max handstand hold. Score is rounds and total number of seconds in handstand.

Cardio:

“Dirty Thirty” For time: 30 box jump / 30 jumping pull-ups / 30 kettlebell swings (1/0.75p) / 30 walking lunges / 30 knees-to-elbows / 30 push-press (20/15kg) / 30 good mornings (20/15kg) / 30 wall ball / 30 burpees / 30 double-unders.

25-minute cut-off.

Tags: Cooking in the Cave, paleo
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Tilapia with Veggies

Tuesday, May 14th, 2013

Here’s a super easy and yummy recipe from Amy W.

Total time 50min

Cook time about 40min

Prep time 10min

Serves 3 people

Foil packets

This is a very easy recipe and you can put pretty much anything into these packets! The recipe can be scaled to anyones taste buds! Want to spice them up add jalapeno slices or add fresh herbs from the garden for an herby flavor. I use this as a catch-the-leftover veggie recipe. This recipe has very little clean up as well! Enjoy!

3 fillets of Tilapia no bones - no skin

3 cups of baby kale or chopped kale

1 bell pepper ( diced)

1 medium yellow squash (diced)

9 stalks of asparagus (diced)

Half a lemon

Coconut oil or Olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

Dry white wine (optional)

Aluminum Foil

( you can also add some diced potatoes in there but it won’t really be paleo… They soak up the juices nicely)

Preheat oven to 375

Tear 3 sheets of aluminum foil about a foot and a half long

put a drizzle or smear of olive oil or coconut oil on half of each sheet of foil

Place 1 handful ( or cup) of kale on oil

Place 1 filet of Tilapia on bed of kale

***keep in mind- everything needs to stay on one half of the sheet of foil because we will eventually be folding it over***

Salt and pepper filet to taste

Seperate diced mixed veggies into 3 even piles and place them on foil next to fish

Squeeze the juice from the lemon half onto each of the filets

Cut the half lemon into thirds and place a wedge onto each packet

Fold over each packet in half and then roll each edge 2 times to make a seal

If you want to add a spalash of the wine into each packet - roll up 2 of the three sides pour a splash of wine in the packet and then close the third side

Make sure each corner is closed tight

Enjoy!

Place packets on a baking sheet and put in the oen for about 35-50 minutes

In a perfect world the packets will pouf up when done- it doesnt always work out taht way- don’t worry- go with your gut and you will be able to smell it when it is done, about 40 minutes or so.

Take packets out of oven when ready and serve!

You can either cut the packets open and serve in a bowl ( less clean up)

or slit the folded side of the packet and slide onto plate

Workout for May 14, 2013:

A) “Fran” 21-15-9 reps of thrusters (43/30kg) / pull ups. 8-min cut-off

B) 5 minutes forearm mobility

C) 10-10-10 standing barbell twists / 30-30-30 ab mat sit ups

D) Row 1000m (easy)

Cardio:

15 Min AMRAP: 5 knees to elbows / 10 ring rows / 15 push-press (20/15kg)

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Cave Shrimp

Tuesday, May 7th, 2013

Here’s a recipe from Susannah W. It sounds delicious!

Shrimp, avocado, grapefruit salad!

In cold weather, I crave warm vegetables, but now that spring is officially here, salads are

more appealing. I came across this recipe (Cooking Light) that was full of some of my

favorite foods: shrimp, avocado and grapefruit. This dish is light but filling, and it looks

pretty so you can serve it to friends. The original recipe called for brown sugar in the

dressing, but I left it out and it was still delicious. I also added Old Bay seasoning to give

it a little more kick.

Shrimp is super easy to cook. It only takes about 3 minutes to sauté! To make sure

you are making an eco-friendly, sustainable choice, look for the Marine Stewardship

Council blue and white check mark or check out the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood

Watch website. This is a great resource when it comes to making healthy and sustainable

seafood choices. http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/

Serves 4

Prep time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

2 ½ tbs olive oil, divided

16 oz. peeled and deveined shrimp

½ teaspoon sea salt, divided

¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper, divided

1 pinch of Old Bay Seasoning

1 grapefruit

2 tbs chopped tarragon

1 tsp chopped shallots

8+ cups of chopped romaine lettuce or other greens

1 peeled avocado, cut into 12 wedges

½ cup peeled and chopped jicama (optional)

Prep:

Heat 1 ½ tsp olive oil over medium heat. Sprinkle shrimp with ¼ tsp salt and 1/8 tsp

pepper. Add shrimp to pan, stir frequently, and cook shrimp for about 3 minutes or until

opaque. Remove from pan but keep warm. Sprinkle shrimp with pinch of Old Bay if you

have it.

Peel and section grapefruit over a bowl, reserving 3 tbsp juice. Set aside grapefruit. To

make the dressing, combine grapefruit juice, 2 tbs olive oil, ¼ tsp salt, 1/8 tsp pepper,

tarragon, and shallots and stir with whisk. Add lettuce and toss in dressing. Arrange 2

cups lettuce mixture on each of 4 plates. Top each with avocado wedges, jicama slices,

shrimp, and grapefruit sections. Enjoy!

Workout for May 7th, 2013:

A) 10-10-10 Russian twists with medicine ball/ 10-10-10 back extensions/ 10-10-10 dumbbell box step ups/ 10-10-10 Turkish SIT-ups

B) 5 Minutes shoulder mobility

C) 7 rounds for time: Run 100m/ 20 push ups / 7 deadlifts (100/75kg) - 14-minute cut-off

Posted in Food, Nutrition | No Comments »

Aaron’s Lemon Chicken

Tuesday, April 30th, 2013

Here’s a delicious recipe from Karen M.

My husband is not Paleo. Rigatoni could easily be his middle name and carbs his wish list food if stranded on a desert island. But when I asked him to adapt a Paleo version of my favorite dish he makes, he enthusiastically channeled his inner cave dude to concoct this gem that I’m delighted to share.

Aaron's Lemon Chicken

3 skinless, boneless chicken breast fillets (about 1 1/2 lbs.)

about 1/2 cup arrowroot, plus 3/4 teaspoon

2 tablespoons ghee or butter (ghee is best as it has a high heat point which is preferable for this dish)

1/4 cup EVOO (extra virgin olive oil)

1 to 2 cloves minced garlic

1/3 cup white wine

1/3 to 1/2 cup chicken broth

3 to 4 tablespoons fresh squeezed lemon juice

1 teaspoon capers

2 tablespoons chopped parsley

In a large skillet on medium-low, combine ghee and EVOO; let heat. Meanwhile, fillet the fillets horizontally as evenly as possible so you have twice the chicken pieces. Wash and pat dry. Evenly spread arrowroot on a large shallow dish and coat fillets on both sides.

Increase pan temperature to medium-high. Place as many fillets in pan as comfortably fit, cooking in batches if needed. Cook 3 to 4 minutes on each side until golden. Check thickest fillet for doneness, salt and pepper all to taste, remove from pan setting aside. If doing another batch, add more EVOO and ghee as needed.

When all fillets are cooked and set aside, turn heat down to medium. Let cool to new temperature and then add garlic. Stir about 1/2 a minute or enough to soften and release aroma. Next add wine and deglaze the pan cooking long enough to burn off alcohol. Add chicken broth and 1 1/2 tablespoons of the parsley. Stir another minute then turn off heat. With heat off, stir in 3/4 teaspoon arrowroot which should just lightly thicken the sauce. (This step, though, is optional as the sauce is wonderful either way.)

Now return the chicken fillets to the pan. (Note: if you are serving this to kids who prefer more mildly flavored food, reserve a couple fillets for them; add the rest to the pan.) Pour the lemon juice evenly over fillets and sprinkle with capers, reserved parsley, and additional salt and pepper as desired. Spoon sauce from pan up over fillets as you reheat for just a minute and serve.

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Eat Like A Dinosaur

Tuesday, April 23rd, 2013

Eat Like A Dinosaur

Noah and I are both Paleo lifestylers. The Paleo diet made tremendous health and weight impacts on Noah’s life (on top of his already dedicated CrossFit workouts) and I adopted this lifestyle a year ago, given his successes. As a female, the weight losses have not been as radical, but I am healthier and feel better eating Paleo clean.

Our children, however, are not strictly Paleo. They certainly have exposure to the lifestyle and eat many a Paleo meal, but they are not by any means kept restricted in their diet. I have also read that children do need more carbohydrates than adults and even though we are lucky that our kids love vegetables, we do let them eat pasta, rice, pizza, etc..

When I heard about How To Eat Like A Dinosaur, by The Paleo Parents, I was super excited to have a Paleo recipe book geared towards children. The book has interesting, child friendly recipes and great ideas on how to engage your children in the cooking process. If they make it, they are much more likely to take pride in the meal and eat it! And these are meals that the whole family can happily eat. The biggest difference for us in what our kids will eat and what we eat is the seasoning and spices. Many of these recipes can be easily spiced up for a more adult flavor, but they are quite fine without the extra spices as well.

Here is one that has been a great success with the kids and their friends: Fool’s Gold (Chicken Nuggets)

Ingredients:
• 3 chicken breasts, deboned and skinned
• 2 cups of almond flour (a staple in any paleo kitchen)
• 2 tbsp arrowroot powder
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp paprika (you can adjust this for a more adult flavor)
• 1 tsp onion powder
• ½ tsp dry mustard
• 1/8 tsp black pepper
• ¾ cup olive oil

Instructions:
1) Cut chicken in 1 inch by 1 inch chunks.
2) Mix dry ingredients together in a bowl with a fork or whisk.
3) Pour olive oil into a separate bowl.
4) Dip each chicken piece in the oil then roll in the flour mixture.
5) Place nuggets on baking sheet and bake for 15-20 minutes at 400 degrees, flipping halfway through.
6) When done the crust will be golden brown and the juice will run clear.

*The author suggests making a bunch and freezing them for convenience. They also recommend a Southwest Pineapple Sauce dip. That recipe is also in the book, but the Trader Joe’s Pineapple Salsa is a good easy substitute as well if you are in a rush.

- Cara Guyot

Tags: paleo
Posted in Food, Recipes | No Comments »

Stuffed Bell Peppers by Amy W.

Tuesday, April 16th, 2013

stuffed-peppers-1 A quick easy yummy recipe you can tweak to your liking. Serves 2- 4 people

Prep Time 8-10 minutes, Cook time 20-30 minutes

Ingredients:

1lb ground turkey

4 bell peppers (see note)

1 cup of diced carrots (about 4 carrots)

1 cup of diced celery (about 4 stalks of celery)

1 cup of diced onions (about half an onion)

2 cups of Kale ( baby kale or chopped kale)

2 cloves of garlic

Pinch of basil- fresh or dried

Olive Oil

Salt and pepper

Hot Sauce ( optional)

Directions:

1) Preheat oven to 350

2) Fill a large stock pot of water and set on high to boil.

3) Chop the top of off the bell peppers- with a spoon or your hand take out all ribbing and seeds. Dice up the top of the peppers discard the stem

4) Put the bell peppers in the stockpot of boiling water – they need to be in here for 6-8 minutes depending on if you still want crispness to your pepper.

5) Drizzle a couple tablespoons of olive oil in a large saute pan and add the onions, celery and carrots—stirring occasionally until the onions start turning translucent.

6) Add the ground turkey, diced bell pepper tops, and chopped garlic cloves with salt and pepper to taste. Break up ground meat and stir occasionally until brown.

7) When meat is almost brown add kale to the pan, mix everything up and put a lid on it to wilt the kale- stir occasionally.

8 ) Take out bell peppers that have been in the stock pot- make sure to drain them of all of their water and place in a baking dish standing up.

9) Once Kale is wilted and meat is brown you can stir in some hot sauce if you want to spice it up- we use Sriracha- add to taste

10) Stuff bell peppers with meat and veggies

11) Put dish in oven for about 20 minutes

** This dish is extremely versatile. You can add any type of veggie you want to it. There will probably be extra meat left over you can either serve it on the side of the peppers or add a couple extra peppers to stuff. If there are any ingredients you don’t like or you want more of add and subtract away. This is our favorite combination of flavors so far, but you cannot ruin this dish! Enjoy!

This recipe is an adaptation from Sarah Fragoso’s Spicy Speedy Stuffed Peppers in Everyday Paleo.

Posted in Food | 1 Comment »

Recipe from Karen M. - Breakfast Brownies!

Tuesday, April 9th, 2013

The Cave's Cookbook!

If you haven’t yet seen it, check out Cooking in The Cave available for purchase in the office. It’s The Cave’s own cookbook filled with fantastic and easy Paleo recipes that are certain to deliciously enhance your healthy living!

Here’s a sample of one of my favorites which, I’m not kidding, I make every single day. It’s replaced morning coffee as the treat I jump out of bed for, while also providing sustained energy until lunch. And kids love it, too!

Breakfast Brownie (single serving, 3 minutes to prep, 2 minutes to cook)

2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

dash (1/8 teaspoon) baking soda

1/2 teaspoon vanilla or almond extract

honey to taste (I’m accustomed to a very low sugar diet so I use barely 1 teaspoon whereas my son likes a whole tablespoon)

1/4 cup light coconut milk

1 heaping tablespoon almond or cashew butter

1 whole egg

Combine all the ingredients in a soup bowl or extra large mug. (Note: altogether, the ingredients should fill no more than half the bowl or mug otherwise they may spill over when cooking.) Mix well until everything is well blended. Place in microwave for 2 minutes. Depending on your oven, you may find that a little more or less time may be needed the next time you make this. If so, add or subtract in 10 second increments as needed in the future. You’ll know you’ve got the cooking time just right when this comes out the consistency of a perfect chocolate cake. And it’s just as delicious!

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Dr. Seuss Ate Paleo

Wednesday, March 13th, 2013

A good post by Bo W.

Those are EGGS!?

Lately I have been trying to shove as much greenery into my diet as possible. I enjoy cooking, though I find cooking vegetables tedious at times and am always looking for simple ways to force feed myself. I while back a buddy of mine introduced me to green eggs. Green eggs are not only extremely easy to make, but are quite delicious, and have become my go to for scrambled eggs. I imagine those with kids who are resistant to eating vegetables might be able to trick their children into eating “green eggs and ham”. At least those who are Dr Seuss fans. To make green eggs you simply blend eggs with a handful of whatever hearty greens tickle your fancy. Add some salt, pepper and maybe a pinch of cayenne or chili powder and cook as you would scrambled eggs. I would recommended a well done scramble as the increased water content from the greens keeps a nice soft scramble a little watery.

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Should You Go Gluten Free?

Friday, March 1st, 2013

This article from the New York Times was suggested by Amanda N.

Wheat

The article does a decent job of explaining what gluten proteins are and that some people seem to have a sensitivity to gluten that exists outside of a diagnosis of celiac disease.

The article points to an Australian study published in the American Journal of Gastrointerology, in which some non-celiac, gluten free patients suffering from irritable bowl syndrome were given baked goods. The study was double-blind, and some of the patients were given regular baked goods, while others received gluten free muffins. While the sample size was pretty small, only 34 people, all of the patients who ate the gluten reported feeling worse, which suggests that there is more to it than a placebo effect.

After that, the author tries very hard not to take a side on the issue, suggesting that most people probably don’t have a gluten sensitivity, and using the disclaimer that you should check with your doctor before going gluten free.

One point that I appreciate is the mention that just because it’s gluten free doesn’t mean it’s healthy. Many gluten free foods are just as loaded with sugar, preservatives, and other chemicals as their enriched wheat flour friends. It’s not enough to just stop eating gluten, you need to make sure that you’re getting plenty of micronutrients from vegetables and fruits, too.

I have yet to meet somebody who hasn’t noticed improvements to their health from removing gluten, but what do you think?

Posted in Food, Medical, Nutrition, Science | 1 Comment »

What Paleo Really Means

Tuesday, February 26th, 2013

Your great(1.5x10^5) grandparent.

I’ve had a bunch of discussions with people about the Paleo Diet, some of whom have argued that grains, dairy, nightshades, and a variety of other things should be included in the Paleo diet because “cavemen ate them.” While there might be evidence for some “cavemen” harvesting grains or keeping goats for milking, this misses the point. Just because some “cavemen” did it, does not mean that our species has a genetic tolerance to that type of food.

I find that a big part of this confusion has to do with a misunderstanding of the scale we’re talking about. Sometimes it helps to get a visual, so I’ve created a timeline of major events in human prehistory, taking us back to the beginning of our species, 200,000 years ago. Below, each bullet point represents traveling back in time 1,000 years.

· · Leif Ericson vacations in Canada

· Death of Emperor Agustus

· Rise of Greek city-states

· Domestication of the Horse

· Cuneiform developed by Sumerians

· Civilization develops in Mesopotamia/ Mastodon goes extinct

· Wheel invented

· Cultivation of barley and wheat

· Goats domesticated/ Horses extinct in North America

· Woolly rhinoceros extinct

· Oldest permanent settlement of humans/ First colonization of North America

· Neanderthals extinct

· First evidence of “cavemen” eating grains & beans (30,000 years ago)/ Dogs domesticated

· Oldest known cave paintings

· Modern humans spread from Africa to Near East (50,000 years ago)

· Toba Volcano supereruption

· 100,000 years ago. Keep scrolling.

· Appearance of Homo sapiens in Africa (200,000 years ago)

This takes us back 200,000 years, to the beginning of the Middle Paleolithic, marked by the first evidence of our species. The entire Paleolithic period started with the first emergence of Homo habilis, about 2.5 million years ago. To give you a sense of scale, if I were to continue with the bullet point illustration, this post would be 15 times longer than it currently is. If you were to print it, it would be about 75 pages of bullet points. And it’s that far back (or even farther) that the foundation was laid for our species dietary habits.

Keep in mind that the beginning of our species is only about 10-15 thousand generations ago. If we were talking about the cultures that widely drank milk or ate grains, we’d only have to go back 11,000 and 30,000 years, respectively, or about 650 and 1700 generations. So, while it’s definitely possible that more recent mutations have popped up that allow some of us to tolerate lactose or other substances that fit outside of the Paleo diet template, the majority of us are evolved to eat meat, fish, vegetables, fruit, nuts, and seeds.

As we continue to learn more about our own prehistory and biology, more and more evidence points toward the Paleo template as a safe and healthy lifestyle.

Posted in Food, Nutrition, Paleo lifestyle, Science | No Comments »

The Cave Blog

Archive for the ‘Food’ Category

I’m addicted to Avocado Soup!

Tilapia with Veggies

Cave Shrimp

Aaron’s Lemon Chicken

Eat Like A Dinosaur

Stuffed Bell Peppers by Amy W.

Recipe from Karen M. - Breakfast Brownies!

Dr. Seuss Ate Paleo

Should You Go Gluten Free?

What Paleo Really Means

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