Turkey Meatloaf

So I just spent half an hour looking through my pictures trying to find ones of when I made the turkey meatloaf. I mean, I ALWAYS take pictures when I'm cooking! and I've made this TWICE in the last month (it was such a hit, that I had a request from one of my paleo clients to make it for her every week). But, apparently, no pictures. But I promised I'd post the recipe...and I have people asking where it is. So here goes...cut and dried, not pretty at all...but damn, the meatloaf is GOOD!

The original recipe was one I found in 'Giada At Home'...a cookbook written by Giada de Laurentiss, that I'd checked out from the library last month. Definitely not a paleo cookbook, but that's OK. You can take most any recipe that you find that looks promising and 'paleo-ize' it!

Meatloaf is super easy. Mix everything together. Shape. Bake (350 degrees for 40-45 minutes, or until internal temperature of the loaf is 165 degrees). So I've listed all the ingredients for the paleo version. then, for my non-paleo friends, I've tacked on the additional ingedients that you can throw in. And if you eat paleo with dairy, then you get to add the feta cheese! mmmmm!

Turkey Meatloaf

1 pound ground turkey
1/3 cup chopped fresh flat leaf parsley
1/4 chopped sun dried tomatoes
1/4 cup olive oil (see note below)
2 cloves garlic
2 large eggs, @ room temperature and lightly beaten
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tsp fresh ground black pepper

NOTE: my sun dried tomatoes came packed in olive oil, so this is what I used for the olive oil in the recipe. Hate wasting!

Mix. Shape into a loaf or cute balls or whatever the heck floats your boat. Cook! MMMMM!

For my non-paleo friends, you can throw in 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese (I always use the non-fat one from Trader Joe's! Delicious!) and/or 1/2 cup PLAIN breadcrumbs.

So there it is. Short and not so pretty. But I promise you your tastebuds won't care!

Paleo Veggie Prep

I first wrote this blog over a year ago, but I decided it is definitely worthy of being pulled to the top for all my new paleo eaters! A blog on Paleo Protein Prep is a'coming!

******************So I know I've talked a lot about prepping being one of the cornerstones for making this whole Paleo thing work! But I realized today that it might be helpful to some if I went into a little more detail. So...

Went to Henry's today and did a quick run through to pick up some essentials. I buy tons of stuff at Costco also, so this isn't all my veggies for the week, but about half. It took about an hour to prep it all once I got home. My BIGGEST tip to you would be to try and do your grocery runs when you have an hour or so after to spend chopping. I love to cook. I love to chop. It means nothing to me to spend 20 minutes making lunch. But I've learned the hard way that when I'm tired - walking to the outside fridge to get that entire head of cauliflower...knowing I'm going to have to get the plastic off and cut the damn thing. Ugh - too much! I'll grab whatever happens to be in the fridge and fast (usually raw asparagus or cherry tomatoes)...yeah, still Paleo...still veggies...still healthy. But we're also going for variety here for numerous reasons. And honestly, woman can not live on asparagus alone. It would make eating boring...and that's sacrilegious! And I know that if I shove everything in my fridge when I get home from the store, it's chances of staying right in there, wholly intact, increases tenfold! I will even leave the stuff on the counter for an hour or two until I can get to it, before putting it away unprepped! So, if at all possible, prep immediately upon unpacking!

******************Now first thing I do is make my greens for the week. Those are the numero uno veggie of any good Paleo diet. I try to eat them with every meal - and it's really not hard, so I guess it's really not 'trying'. : -) I saute them with a bunch of other veggies with my eggs in the morning. It's the basis for my lunch salad. At dinner, it usually is sauted with onions to make a nice cushy bed for whatever animal fell to my spear that day or gets thrown willy-nilly into the chili pot. So lots and lots of greens!

******************Today I bought red chard, dandelion greens, kale, collard greens, and napa cabbage. Got home, chopped them all up, and mixed them all together with a head of cilantro just for good measure. Now I know that it looks like a huge pile...but ...it condenses nicely when packaged up; if you're eating as much of it as you should, it won't be around that long; it takes about ten minutes to do and is cheaper than buying those pre-packaged bags that were cut days ago; and - most importantly - you control what goes in them. You'd be hard pressed to find a salad mix as nutriently dense as this one is! And leave those beautiful stalks and stems on when you chop them. You won't notice them in your salad, or if you do, it'll be like celery! And another helpful hint...any veggie that's a 'heavy breather' needs to have a paper towel thrown in the bag with it to absorb the excess moisture, which will keep it fresher, longer. I'm actually a huge fan of Tupperware's FridgeSmart storage system - NOTHING seems to go bad in those things! But right now I'm prepping so much - that even with two fridges, I wouldn't have room for that many containers. The bags make it easy to stack and fits lot in a small space.

******************After the greens, I prepped the rest of the stuff I'd bought. That included celery, radishes, peppers, red cabbage, red onions, 4 heads of cauliflower, a second head of napa cabbage all by itself, Italian parsley, portabello mushrooms, and jicama. It really is amazing how much more likely I am to grab that celery or a radish if they've already been topped and tailed and put in a bag! Just this hour of prep will save me numerous hours over the coming week! But bear in mind that some veggies don't respond well to pre-prepping. Tomatoes, zuchinni, squash, cucumbers...all lose a little something when left to sit. And if everything else is prepped, it's not that bad to just chop one of two things!

Hope that's a bit more helpful that just telling you to prep! Now, go eat those greens!

Paleo Links

In the interest of keeping everything together, especially for the couple people who are not on facebook, I'm re-posting these links. Tons of good information out there...just start in on one and you'll find it'll be a chain reaction as you start following links. Have fun! And don't forget to share if you find something really good that's not on this list!

And, of course, I highly recommend that everyone get themselves a copy of 'The Paleo Solution' by Robb Wolf. Everything you need to know in one place. Funny. Portable. Recipes. Best $15 you'll spend!

BASIC INFORMATION:

http://www.thepaleodiet.com/

http://robbwolf.com/blog/

http://www.paleonu.com/get-started/

http://www.urbangetsdiesel.com/2009/07/change-your-life-in-thirty-days.html

http://www.marksdailyapple.com/

http://paynowlivelater.blogspot.com/2009/08/getting-started-brief-guide-to-paleo.html

http://hunter-gatherer.com/why-hunter-gatherers

http://huntgatherlove.com/content/about

http://arthurdevany.com/ (subscriber only, for a fee. I don't have this, but wanted to give you all the options I was aware of.)

COOKING AND RECIPES:

http://www.crossfitgenius.com/paleo-cookbook/

http://www.glutenfreecookbooks.com/?hop=whatasite

http://paleolickinggood.blogspot.com/

http://cavecooking.blogspot.com/

EATING OUT PALEO:

http://robbwolf.com/category/the-road-forager/

http://hunter-gatherer.com/blog/how-eat-wild-chipotle

30 Day Paleo Challenge

Well, the Paleo Workshop last Friday night was a success and everyone is gearing up to start the challenge officially on Sunday, October 10th. I figured I'd open up my blog page as a place where we can all connect with each other for the next month or so. If you have a question, comment, idea...if you need support or just want to talk...we can use the comments section of the blog. that way it's all in one place. Now it might not be a blog sensation. most days it will be cut and dried and too the point. but it should serve it's purpose!

My goal is to post a little something every day, just so we can have a fresh comments suggestion to start in on. Hopefully will make it easier to keep track of stuff also.

To begin, here's an email I got today with a bunch of good questions. I'm sharing the original email and my responses.

EMAIL RECEIVED

Hi Jenn,

I wanted to send you an email because FB email seems to cut me off!

So, first and foremost, thank you, thank you, thank you for hosting the Paleo informational on Friday! It was super informative, and goes great with the book.

I have some questions for you. My main goal is weight loss- as you know by now.

1)I've read less than 6 eggs per week for weight loss - true? If so, I need another breakfast suggestion. I'm currently sauteeing veggies, meat, and throwing an egg on it. But, later in the day, I'll have an egg as a snack.

2)Veggies - steamed vs. stir fried? My guess is stir fryed might be a healthier Paleo option, depending on what you stirfry it with; because steaming takes out nutrients?? However, if you don't know what it's being stirfried in, steamed might be the better pick @ restaurants... si or no?

3)You mentioned not to cook with olive oil because it becomes carcinogenic when heated - however, checking out your blog, you cook with olive oil. 'splain please?! I only ask because I cook with olive oil all the time!

4)Pork Loin. Should I slather oil on a pork loin, then spice it up? Or, just add spice and cook? Does it matter?

5)You mentioned < 4oz nuts / seeds daily for weight loss. Is this separate from my healthy fat intake? For example, if I eat 4ozs of almonds, should I skip the avocado that day?

I know you're super busy, and I appreciate any feedback you can give me, when you have time to give it! I've read your blog too. I saw the Galeo's dressing! I love that stuff. It's probably not the best choice for the 30 day challenge, however, it's good to know that I can eat some of that with my salads! YUMM!

Thanks again Jenn for all that you're doing and all that you continue to do!

You rock!

MY RESPONSE

Let's see! first: you're welcome! :)

OK...

1) I agree with the egg bit. I would go with 1 whole egg and 2-3 egg whites instead. I buy the following because it just saves me a hell of a lot of time, and because I'm not wasting the yolk: http://www.eggwhitesint.com/store.php?crn=66.

...and regarding other breakfast selections. The biggest thing you're going to have to learn to do is stop thinking of breakfast, lunch, and dinner as totally separate beasts. We don't eat the majority of things people consider breakfast food, so we have to re-classify breakfast foods. Me...I love eggs, so I don't have a problem eating them every morning. You can have sausage and bacon instead...traditionally thought of as breakfast far, yes...but probably something you want to limit if you're goal is weight loss. I'm just as likely to have steak or chicken or whatever meat I have in the fridge instead. Most mornings I eat 1 egg and three egg whites cooked with hot peppers, an apple (cause berries are out of season and getting more expensive), and either some almond butter and cinnamon on my apple, or about 6-8 almonds, if I'm eating in the car. then on the weekend I tend to maybe do steak and eggs with mushrooms and asparagus or something a bit fancier, like making a frittata or an omelet (no cheese). the first thirty days may be easier to get through if you find one of two things that work for you, and just stick with them. trying to do too many fancy recipes or different things might be too much to take on at the beginning. and while there are paleo versions of baked things, I think it's better to not use them at the beginning and give your taste buds a chance to get used to the bulk of the food you'll be eating...ie, the meat and veggies.

if you do a google search on paleo breakfast ideas, you'll find a lot of stuff. this link is specifically to a thread of paleo breakfast ideas not using eggs. :) http://forum.lowcarber.org/archive/index.php/t-257982.html


2) if you steam them in the microwave with a tiny bit of water, you don't loose the nutrients. that's what I do with my brocolli, cauliflower, etc. Stir frying is fine...I just use a little bit of Pam when I do it. so either or. :) In a restaurant, go for steamed, if possible. and make sure you say PLAIN. no oil, no butter, no nothing. you can ask for a little olive oil on the side if you want. I usually just use lemon juice.

3) I just learned the bit about olive oil being bad to cook with recently. :) I use pam for almost everything, and then dress with olive oil at the end for flavor now. if I need to cook with more than pam, I use coconut oil or grapeseed oil. flaxseed is another I use cold, for dressings, not cooking with.

4)Pork loin...slather...lol!!!! you'll find that a tbs or so of olive oil will cover a huge 10 pound loin. you just want a thin coating on the top because it makes it brown up nicely, plus it holds the spices on.

5) Limiting your nut/seed intake to 4 oz a day for weight loss: this is including the 4 oz as part of your daily fat intake. Another thing to limit for weight loss is your nut butter intakes. they count into that nut/seed total too. :) So for example...for breakfast, you might have 1/4 of an avocado, lunch might be 2 tbs of seeds on your salad and 1 tbs olive oil in your dressing, dinner might be another tbs of olive oil on your veggies. that's probably a good 50-60 grams of fat right there. it really doesn't take much!

and yes...the miso dressings are good, but not recommended for the challenge because they are soy based. but afterwards, it's nice to know there's a salad dressing you can use as a treat now and again without being totally bad! right now I'm living on that dressing I posted last week: equal parts lemon juice and dijon mustard, minced garlic, a bit of olive oil, and some coconut milk. whisk together. nommmmmmy!!!! of course, I add crushed red pepper too! :)