Nice to Finally Meat You

In Portland there is no shortage of culinary adventures. From restaurants to food carts there is a plethora of places to try at every corner. After falling off the mark last Saturday, I decided to fully commit to finding a purely Paleo meal outside of my kitchen.

A friend recommended that I try the Cultured Caveman. The Cultured Caveman is a food cart with two locations in the NE and SE neighborhoods. For being a food cart they have a pretty nice website to go along with it. It not only has the menu posted on it, but a short nutrition breakdown for most items as well. You can even check out a couple recipes on it. 

Mr. NN and I ventured out on a sunny Saturday after our workouts to give it a try. We visited the one in SE, which was right across the street from a popular natural/ local foods store. This location had a single table in front of the cart near the bustling intersection and tent in back with a few more tables that offered a more secluded dining experience. But enough about the location, let's get down to the food!  

For the main dish we both opted for the Grass Fed All Meat Chili and Caveman Coffee. For a side, I selected the Beet and Walnut Salad while Mr. NN tried the Ginger Carrot Kale Salad.  You can see our selections pictured off to the right. Our grand total came to $20, not bad for a lunch with high quality ingredients.  

I love a good chili and I have been disappointed in what I have found in Portland so far. That was until I had the chili here. It was full of flavor and there were large chunks of tender meat rather than minuscule meat-like crumbles floating about. The portion size was perfect for me, but Mr. NN could have used a larger size. 

The Ginger Carrot Kale Salad was just the right mix of crisp vegetables and ginger flavor. While the Beet and Walnut Salad was described as containing jicama, but I didn't find any. The jicama was either really well hidden because it had absorbed the color from the beets and carrots or jicama was simply not in it. If it was left out, I don't think it was a major loss (to me jicama doesn't have much taste anyway). The bright salad still had a nice earthy flavor balance. 

The Caveman Coffee was delicious. There is no shortage of good coffee in Portland and One Drop Coffee is no exception. It was perfectly iced and not watered down. If you're interested, you can order their cold brew online and play barista at home. I'm not sure what made this coffee "caveman" though. Maybe because you could order it with coconut milk or heavy cream. 

All in all, I would give my meal a 4 out of 5 caveman clubs. I'm withholding one club due to the fact we were both hungry an hour later. One way to avoid that would be to order a little extra. For a perfectly Paleo (and tasty) meal give the Cultured Caveman a try.        

Week Three: Cave Kids and a Gluten Reaction

Last Saturday I attended the Oregon School Nutrition Association conference. The attendees are exactly what you might expect; from school nutrition directors to your typical lunch lady, all of them are really passionate about school food- the good, the not so good, and the kids really touch this stuff? My group was there to be educated on everything from new legislation affecting school meals to how to pick ripe produce. Maybe we'd make a few new connections along the way as well.  

First, we all gathered in a large hall while a pep squad held a "flag ceremony" (which we found out was code for the Pledge of Allegiance) and then the board members of various organizations were introduced. A motivational speaker who you could have sworn was about to have an aneurysm later outdid the pep squad's pep. Midway through his presentation, after he threw himself onto numerous women yelling, "Get happy!" while rubbing his chest in their face, he disclosed that he had a stroke about 10 years ago. Shocking.

But this wasn't the excitement that most of the child nutrition professionals were waiting in anticipation for. A floor above us, vendors scurried about setting up booths, warming samples, and practicing their selling points. The vendor showcase was the crown jewel event of the day.

In case you have been living under rock and/or do not have a child in school, you may not be aware of the changes this year to school lunches. I will save the explanation of the government and school meals for another blog. Long story short (for the purpose of this post) is that many companies have been reformulating what they already make to sell to schools in hopes of holding on to that part of the market. School meal entrees are generally made up of two of the three components required to be a reimbursable meal. The components tend to be grain, protein, or a combination of the two. The curveball in school meal entrees is that cheese constitutes a protein, not dairy.

Since the vendors usually bring samples, the conference did not provide a mid-day meal. Meaning I was left to forge what I could for a meal from what the vendors had. Generally it is pretty easy to eat yourself silly at one of these events. However this Paleo challenge increased the difficulty of this task. School meals are far from being considered Paleo with grain, legumes, and dairy being major components of school meals. Most of the meats I found were breaded. Some of the meats I found, that weren't coated in breading, didn't look quite like meat. Then some places were promoting their cheese/ bean/ peanut butter filled products. None of these things were considered Paleo either.

This left beef jerky, salsa, and frozen fruit. I ended up having a lot of fruit: as in sugar-high, blood-thickening amount of fruit.  At one point my stomach was turning due to the amount of sugar I had consumed, so I tried a questionable meatball in a "citrus, ancho chile sauce." I spit it out. I am highly appreciative that my school district does not serve mystery meat like this.

I never thought it was possible to get a hangover from fruit. By the time I got home I was feeling semi-nauseous from the amount of sugar in my body and was in desperate need of grease.

Since it was St. Patrick's weekend, I grabbed a friend and we went out to an Irish pub for whiskey and grease. We first split a plate of fries, which helped the sugar to salt/ fat ratio in my blood, but it wasn't quite enough. I needed more. This was when Mr. NN met up with us and was in need of dinner. That was my ticket to continue on my quest for grease.

I had been fantasizing about bread for the last few days, what could it hurt giving in and having a reuben? It was just one sandwich, not heroin. I could have gone with the bangers and mash, which would have been more aligned with Paleo, but I was planning on having that the next day. I could have also asked not to have the bread or cheese and just a pile of corned beef and sauerkraut on a plate. But if I was going to have just one non-Paleo meal in three weeks, I might as well fully embrace it.  

Within a few minutes a perfectly grilled sandwich, with a tantalizing menagerie of melted cheese and dressing oozing down the sides, was set down before me.  I was more excited than the motivational speaker I saw earlier. I held myself back from tackling the server with unbridled happiness.  Just so you have a visual, the sandwich (pictured left) is not one that I had eaten, but it looked just as beautiful.

I inhaled half of the sandwich in what felt like seconds. I could have stopped at half of the sandwich, but this was my first sandwich in a long time. I didn't need the other half, the first half of the sandwich needed to be reunited with the other half... in my belly. Down the hatch it went.

After the entire sandwich was ingested I was in pain. At first I thought it was because I had eaten myself silly. But after an hour my stomach was distended and there was a lot of gurgling going on.

My body was rejecting the sandwich. Nooooooooo. 

I have noticed since starting Paleo I have been less bloated, but this was a little ridiculous. Do I think that gluten caused this? It certainly could be. Obviously my body is not used it since it has been a few weeks since I had a full serving of grains, let alone gluten. But as one RD friend pointed out, our intestinal lining is replaced every 3 to 5 days. Because I have went longer than that without any grains my body simply isn't used to processing it. It probably didn't help that I had two slices of refined bread rather than easing myself back into eating grains.

Do I think gluten is the devil and that people should avoid it at all costs? No, absolutely not. I should have been more careful when making my dinner decision. Everyone should also be sure to choose whole grains over refined grains. In this frame of thought, if I thought that I had to avoid gluten the rest of my life due to the way it made me feel I would have to avoid fruit too. Think about it, I managed to eat myself sick on fruit but I know that blueberries aren't evil. These both illustrate the point that everything, including fruit, in moderation.

The Irish, Cave-made Cupcake

Cupcake: cup-cake (noun) a small cake baked in a cuplike mold.

A cupcake is generally meant for one person to consume. Although if you go to someplace like Gigi's, one cupcake is large enough to be shared. (However, I'm not going to say that finishing one by yourself is impossible and I can attest to that.)

Lately, I have had an insatiable cupcake craving. Partially because I have yet to find a cupcake cafe to act as my safe haven here in Portland after a hectic week. Mainly because I am attempting to be fully Paleo and haven't had one in a long time.

After spending a good part of the week researching Portland cupcake stores, I was inspired to be more pro-active. Of course there are gluten-free bakeries here, but why not try to do a little of my own baking? This was also my first time baking with something other than wheat flour.

In the spirit of St. Patrick's Day, I decided I wanted something "Irish." Being the Naughty Nutritionist, I thought Irish cream would be a good flavor to work with. I also am a big fan of Bailey's in chai lattes- a concoction I discovered on a cold, snowy night a few years ago- so that is where the chai idea came from. But as much as I like the color green, I declined on adding food coloring.

I will forewarn you that these are not your typical cupcakes. The recipe I created was a mash-up of a cupcake recipe and a paleo muffin recipe. My cupcake does have a moist, spongey characteristic to them similar to most paleo mock-grain foods. They also aren't nearly as sweet, so it could easily pass for a breakfast muffin (minus frosting).

Bailey's Chai-Spiced, Gluten-Free Cupcakes
Makes approximately 18 cupcakes

What You Need:
12 Eggs
1 c. Butter, melted
2 tsp. Vanilla Extract
1/4 c. Honey or Maple Syrup
1 c. Water
1 T. of Chai Tea
1/4 c. Irish Cream
1 c. Coconut Flour
1 tsp Sea Salt
1/2 tsp of Baking Soda

What To Do:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Brew one cup of chai tea using the water and chai tea according to package instructions. (I used Rishi Tea Masala Chai loose leaf tea.) If you use chai concentrate, feel free to omit the honey and up the amount of chai used.

In a mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, butter, vanilla, honey, chai tea, and Irish cream. Sift in the coconut flour, salt, and baking soda in and stir until well combined.

Line the cupcake pan wells with cupcake liners. If you do not use liners,  use pan spray or butter to lightly grease each well. Fill each cupcake well with 1/4 cup of the batter. Place the pans in the oven and bake for 30- 40 minutes.

Remove from oven and remove cupcakes from pan to cool. If you would like, frost or ice the cupcakes. (I used a marshmallow cream since I would not be able to refrigerate them.) Green food coloring would be a better addition to the frosting or icing than the cupcake itself due the dark color of the cake.  

Saturated Fat and Shamrocks

It started because I had to go to the bathroom.

I was at a craft store thinking that I was in need of some sort of project, when all I really needed was a restroom. Not seeing one in sight (at least for the public), I went to the nearest convenience store. Which was conveniently on the same intersection as a Burger King and a McDonald’s- with an enormous poster of a Shamrock Shake gracing its window. Like many Americans who love green things in mid-March, the Shamrock Shake is one of those things I have to have almost every year. Not just have rather need. But with me being on the Paleo Challenge, a Shamrock Shake in all its green food coloring goodness is off limits.

I went into the convenience store only to find the most dismal public restroom I have seen in a long time. I've seen cleaner ones in the middle of Montana, where the maintenance staff might come once a week. In my moment of need, I headed for the golden arches.

Upon entering I was struck by the stale fryer smell, the one that permeates your clothing after being in the area for more than 30 seconds. I bee-lined for the bathroom and then decided that I should probably get something there since I was using their facilities. I went to the counter where a man stood, seductively wrapping his lips around a straw was connected to a Shamrock Shake.

Need that... no, not the guy. The shake. Hey, when did they start putting whipped cream and cherries on this thing?

Then my willpower took over and I ordered a coffee. I was dangerously sedated from the potpourri I inhaled at the craft store. I was in no condition to be driving with out a pick-me-up. The coffee helped, but I was still craving my minty treat. 

On my way home, I stopped at a grocery store and after some deliberation I picked up a mint flavored, coconut milk frozen treat. I was a little curious as to how this was going to go. How are mint and coconut going to pair as an "ice cream"? Its brand name was So Delicious and I was So Willing to give it a shot.

Upon opening the pint, I was a little sad to see it was white. What the heck? This is supposed to be mint flavored and every mint-flavored thing I have consumed has always been green. Half the reason I get the Shamrock Shake is for it's green color. (That's because it’s authentically Irish, like green beer.) Now I was lazy and finally home from a tough day of window-shopping. I wasn't about to venture out to call shenanigans at the grocery store over this so I grabbed a spoon and dug in.        

   

   

This first spoonful was full of coconut flavor (shocking). After a few more bites, I started to get more of the mint flavor. It was no Shamrock Shake, but it was doing the trick. It was also incredibly easy to eat. I have only eaten an entire pint of ice cream in a single sitting once. I was not about to do that a second time, at least not today, so I coached myself to put the lid back on and put it in the freezer, for later.

After eating about half the pint, I decided that I should look at the nutrition of this. Some people believe that just because it is made from coconut milk, it is instantly better than the real dairy thing. But coconut milk is high in saturated fat. Even though this form of saturated fat is primarily composed of medium chain fatty acids (I'll save this topic for another blog), it still packs 9 calories a gram like any other fat.
I am going to the take the liberty to compare 12 ounces of the So Delicious Coconut Milk Frozen Dessert with the alternative, a 12-ounce Shamrock Shake. Let's take a look, shall we?


So Delicious Coconut Milk Mint Chip
Calories: 510 Calories
Fat: 27 g.
     Saturated Fat: 24 g.
Carbohydrates: 60 g.
     Fiber: 18 g.
     Sugar: 39 g.
Protein: 1 g.
Iron: 24 %

Shamrock Shake

Calories: 530 Calories
Fat: 15 g.
     Saturated Fat: 10 g.
Carbohydrates: 86 g.
     Fiber: 0 g.
     Sugar: 73 g.
Protein: 11 g.
Calcium: 40 %

The So Delicious was 120% of my daily value of saturated fat intake. That's 120% if I had nothing else to eat yesterday. This helps illustrate the importance of enjoying your favorite treats in moderation even if you do find it in the natural section of the grocery store. Unlike the Shamrock Shake, the So Delicious lacked calcium but had plenty of iron. The Shamrock Shake was no shining star though. It had more than double the sugar (part of that due to the natural lactose in it) and no fiber.

When it comes down to it, it's a pick your poison situation. Either way both options are going to be high in calories. The question is: do you want those calories to come from sugars or from fat? That choice is entirely yours. My only suggestion is to do whichever one you will get the most enjoyment from.  

Week Two: Let the Contradictions Begin!

Earlier this week, a book I had on hold at the library finally came in. I had put this book, The Paleo Diet by Loren Cordian, Ph.D.,  on hold a few weeks ago prior to starting this challenge. I wanted this book serve as my main guide for the Paleo challenge since Cordain is one of the main figures Paleo enthusiasts know of. Cordian and his research is referred to on numerous websites and in books.

Unfortunately, there were 10 people ahead of me on the wait list so I had to refer to what I could find online and in books a friend loaned me for advice. The funny thing about this was that this Paleo book didn't even have the longest wait list. There were numerous Paleo cookbooks with a long list of holds ahead of me, including one with a 54 people already on it. Is it really that hard to think of recipes that basically only involve meat and vegetables?

Prior to reading The Paleo Diet I was little shocked at things that were considered okay on this diet. In the Practical Paleo book I found numerous recipes involving bacon, ribs, skin-on poultry, butter, and coconut oil. These foods are not exactly low in saturated fat. The first week of the Paleo challenge my blood felt more like sludge and I had less energy than before I had started. Week two, I cut out the bacon and went back to eating more egg whites. I started to feel better and I was a bit less reliant on caffeine in the morning.  

Here are just a few notable things a learned from The Paleo Diet: 

• Choose lean meats, game meat, fish, and shellfish
• Limit your whole egg intake (Note: There is nothing mentioned in regards to cholesterol free egg whites.) 
• Eat your fruits and veggies (Note: All potatoes, not just white, are off limits in this book.)
• Nuts and seeds are permitted
• Oils (olive, avocado, walnut, and flaxseed), most beverages (besides water), and dried fruits are all allowed in moderation
• In addition to dairy, legumes, and grains, also avoid butter, bacon, potatoes, yams, olives, canned meats, chicken skin, pork sausage, and honey most of the time. 

I found a lot of what Cordain was recommending to make sense. Eat lean meat, eat a lot of fruits and veggies, and use healthy fats. He also notes that you don't have to cut out foods such as dairy, grains, and legumes forever. (That's a relief.) The version of Paleo that Cordain recommends is very similar to Clean Eating, which is something I usually adhere to. 

Still, the hardest part of this is going out to eat. Every time I went somewhere for food this week I was satiated, but not full. At our favorite burger place, I found myself staring at people smushing down their bun as cheese oozed out the edges. Last night I would have killed for pizza. Killed. I also miss my beer; which would be amazing with the pizza I've been fantasizing about.

The grocery bill is still up there. The picture above is the latest load from my last shopping trip and that's not even half of it. Nutritionally speaking, I am still lacking calcium. My cholesterol and saturated fat intake are also both still high. I am hoping now that I am going to be following more closely to what Cordain outlines as Paleo, both my cholesterol and saturated fat intake will be in a more acceptable range.


Goals Update

• My energy levels have increased, but nothing terribly notable. 
• I'm also not sleeping any better. Hopefully this week will be better than last.   
• I still have cold toes and fingers. I have a feeling this is not going to change in 4 weeks. 
• I am so ready for spring break... mentally.  

I am now at the halfway mark of the challenge. Next weekend I have a conference to go to, let's see how Paleo I am able to be at a school nutrition conference. Since most of the foods that schools serve are commodity, and the majority of these foods are processed in some way, I am going to predict not very. Saint Patrick's Day (one of my favorite holidays) is also coming up. No reuben for me this year, but corned beef can still be on the menu!  

  

   

Where There Is Smoke, There Might Not Be Fire

Paleo Prep (Sunday)

I went grocery shopping for the beginning of the Paleo meal plan. In total, we spent about $180 on groceries for the week minus food that my husband was able to have and I had to avoid  and items that weren't edible. Looking at our grocery receipts, there is a sizable amount of produce and meat. It looks about right since that's about all I am allowed to eat. 

One of the recipes I selected for this week involved coconut aminos. Coconut aminos are a non-soy, gluten-free sauce made from the sap of a coconut tree. This was the hardest thing for me to buy. Not only because the employees at my usual grocery store had no clue what I was talking about (much like 90% of the planet), but they were also almost twice the price of other non-gluten soy-like sauces.  According to the author of the book I have been using as a guide, it tastes just like soy sauce. 

I find it odd that coconut aminos are allowable on a Paleo plan. If I travelled back thousands of years and asked cave people to pass the coconut aminos, would they know what I was talking about? Or would I get the same glazed-over look from them that I got from the stockers at the grocery store? 

At Whole Foods I conveniently found them in the "ethnic" section without any assistance. Then came the price dilemma, this uber-special seasoning cost $6.59 a bottle. The other gluten-free soy sauce substitute was only $3.49 a bottle (on special). The only issue was that soy was an ingredient, which is not allowed on the plan. My husband reminded me that if I was going to do this, I had to fully commit and that included incurring the cost.

This stuff better taste like soy sauce. 

That evening I prepped a week worth of breakfasts. (There is something to be said about what one can accomplish when football isn't on.) Since I was mostly forgoing eggs, in addition to grains, there really isn't anything substantial one can have for breakfast that can be prepared quick. This meant I was turning to the recipes in the Practical Paleo book for breakfast ideas. I decided to make the Pumpkin Pancakes. They used a low amount of eggs and were seemingly the least amount of work. 

The only thing these "pancakes" had in common with your typical pancake is that I made them in a pan. The first two I made were incredibly runny rather than oozy, like a thick pancake batter. (Not terribly shocking since there was no sort of grain in it.) Then I realized, I didn't add butter to the batter. The recipe called for 2 tablespoons of butter or coconut oil to be mixed in. Instead, I put 2 tablespoons of coconut oil in the pan for cooking. (Oops.) Since I already had 2 tablespoons of fat in the pan,  I opted for 2 tablespoons of butter for what was left of the batter for the double batch I was making. These pancakes were less runny than the first ones I made, but still not the same consistency. I had come too far now to toss them so I finished making the batch.

The other main component of breakfast would be baked bacon, which is exactly what it sounds like. This was way simpler to make than the pancakes. All I had to do was put a baking rack on a cookie sheet, place each strip of bacon on the rack so they weren't overlapping, place the bacon filled pan in the oven (preheated to 325 degrees), and bake for 25 minutes. The time can be more or less depending on your desired crispiness. I had not eaten bacon in awhile, so I was more excited about this than I was about the pancakes.

Week One in Review: 

• Bacon is great day for one day, good on day two, but I'm pretty sure my arteries were narrowing by day three. How does anyone have meat for breakfast everyday? 
• I am not a fan of eating things I do not derive pleasure from. In this particular case, canned wild salmon is one of those things. 
• Coconut oil has a low smoke point. Please keep this mind if you are using it as a fat for broiling. Your food won't catch fire, but your kitchen sure will be hazy. Opt for butter or olive oil over coconut oil. Scratch the butter, as I recently learned that also will create smoke under the broiler.
• Coconut aminos are to soy sauce as alligator is to chicken. Disclaimer: I have never had alligator.  
• Eating at restaurants can be difficult. In particular, Cuban restaurants. Most menu items had beans and rice as a part of the dish. I settled on a sandwich and asked for it without the bun. The server laughed as she said "This is your sandwich, without the bun." Thanks, lady. I miss bread. 
• It also be very tasty. At a local winery I opted for the meat plate with Salami with Herbes de Provence shingled in two rows, Prosciutto piled in thin mounds down the center, and heart-shaped Hot Soprasseta slices (pictured above) arranged on the opposite side. All of which were melt-in-your-mouth delicious. On a normal night I would have shared the cheese board with my husband. (I'll admit that I took a few bites of his cheese. I'm a Sconnie girl at heart, not dead.) 
• I was able to mostly stick the "Paleo" adult beverage stipulations. Saturday night I had more than the one drink limit, but not by much. Living in the Northwest there is no shortage of good Pinot Noirs. I still miss beer though. 

Nutrient Breakdown

Previous to the Paleo plan, my diet was roughly 45% carbohydrates (mainly from beans and fruit), 30% fat (mainly from olive oil), and 25% protein (mainly from whey protein). These numbers are fairly in line with what the USDA recommends for Americans. This past week my diet was 50% fat (butter and oils), 30% carbohydrates (vegetables and fruit), and 20% protein (from meats).

My cholesterol intake has skyrocketed. Before, I averaged 300 milligrams of cholesterol, which is the "limit" set by the Food and Nutrition Board and the Institute of Medicine. I used quotation marks around limit because there is no Estimated Average Requirement (EAR), Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA), or Adequate Intake (AI) set for cholesterol. This is because all of our tissues are capable of producing enough cholesterol for their needs meaning there really is no gain by us consuming cholesterol. There is also no Upper Limit (UL) set because any increased amount of dietary cholesterol intake increases the risk of Coronary Heart Disease. Cholesterol is present in all animal tissues, so there is no way to avoid it. That is unless you are vegan. Needless to say, once I moved from my mainly vegetarian diet to the Paleo plan my cholesterol intake jumped. This past week I averaged 400 mg of dietary cholesterol a day.

I'm going to take this opportunity to stress the importance of exercise while on a high-meat intake plan like this. Physical activity can increase your High Density Lipoproteins (HDL) levels. HDL serves as the "street sweeper" of your arteries. Their job is to pick up cholesterol in your blood and deliver it to the liver, where it is repackaged into bile and excreted from the body. The more HDL you have the better, especially if your dietary cholesterol intake is high.

As for minerals, with the Paleo plan my intake of iron is above and beyond what the RDA is for it. However, my calcium intake is way down. This shouldn't be surprising since dairy is a no-no with Paleo. Currently, I am getting on average 25% of the RDA for calcium from my diet alone. As noted in Practical Paleo, spinach is a good source for calcium. But you would have to eat a lot of spinach to get your RDA for calcium in one day. I'm not talking eating one big bag (about 8 cups) of spinach in a day, its more like 10 of those bags in a day. Other good plant-based sources of calcium include kale, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, cabbage, and cauliflower. Although I am eating all of these items, my intake is still pretty low. Admittedly, I am still taking a multivitamin with calcium and even with that I am well below the RDA. (I know cavemen didn't have multivitamins and minerals, but I'm also sure they never heard of coconut amnios either. I live in the cloudy Northwest and I'd rather not have osteoporosis.)    

Goal Update

In regards to my goals, I'm not feeling anymore energetic than before. In fact I feel like I have had less energy. I still get about 7 hours of sleep a night (which is about what I usually get). Maybe its because I am having meat in the morning. It's no wonder bacon and coffee make such a great duo.

This is taking the bacon and coffee combination to a new level. Image from: http://wanderingbeancoffeeco.blogspot.com/ 

I have not been able to tell a difference in my tolerance of cold either. I have warm socks, though, and they definitely do the trick. I would rather have eggs, nuts, and seeds in my diet and wear warm clothes to keep my toes warm than be on a severely restrictive diet in hopes that by doing that it will work.

Now that I am done with the Paleo for autoimmune conditions version, I am moving on to a more "typical" Paleo diet. Signing off from week one and onward to week two!