The Latest Bend in the River-Foraging for Local Food

Posted on November 12, 2011 by paleopassage

The river is constantly turning and bending and you never know where it’s going to go and where you’ll wind up. Following the bend in the river and staying on your own path means that you are on the right track. Don’t let anyone deter you from that.
Eartha Kitt

My journey through the Paleo lifestyle has led me through many twists and turns that I was not anticipating.  Discovering the unknown is often the best part of the journey.  It’s not that I was unaware of the things that my current path is heading towards.  I just did not see the relevance to my life, at that time.

My Oldest Offspring (OO) called me up when I first expressed an interest in eating and purchasing local food.  She pointed out that she had told me I should do that years ago.  To be perfectly honest so did my Middle Offspring (MO).  MO is very involved with the Go Local Co-op in Santa Rosa, so he has certainly mentioned that I should eat local, sustainable food more than once.

As I transitioned into the Paleo Lifestyle, finding high quality foods became a priority.  This led me to the Farmer’s Market where I found a plethora of delicious, locally grown, sustainable fruits, vegetables and meats.  It costs a bit more to eat these foods, but the taste, freshness and quality can’t be beat.

The one issue I have with the Farmer’s Market is the hours of operation.  Our local market is open on Wednesday and Saturday mornings.  I work on Wednesdays.  I belong to a hiking club that hikes every Saturday.  Hiking is my play.  It’s how I regroup and recharge my batteries so that I can go to work during the week.  I have conflicting priorities.

I skip the club hike every third Saturday for some basic maintenance (mani & pedi) and some volunteer work (apheresis at the local Blood Bank).  On those days, I have no problem getting to the Farmer’s Market.  Occasionally the start time for the hike will be late enough to allow me to make a quick run through the Farmer’s Market.  I have also been skipping the hikes that in my mind are less desirable.  However, it’s not all about the trail that we are hiking on.  My hiking club is a major source of community and social time for me.  These things are also important in a balanced life.

My current obsession interest in being a Locavore along with following a Paleo Lifestyle has resulted in my obsessing about conducting some research on the various options for obtaining local foods in my area.  Some of the groceries and markets do carry local items.  My preference is to eliminate the middle man whenever possible and go to the source.

I’ve been looking into other options for obtaining locally grown food directly from the producers.  These include going out to the farms and purchasing there, or purchasing CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) shares from meat and vegetable producers.

Going out to multiple farms is an enjoyable activity, but would get to be very time consuming and inconvenient to do week after week.  Most CSAs start in the spring and end in December.  I have discovered a farm that has both meat and vegetable CSAs available.  They offer the option of adding pastured eggs.  They offer a weekly pickup in the evening after work at a location that is less than a mile from my house.  The cost is similar, or even a bit less than what we have been spending at the Farmer’s Market.

TMOTH and I are going to take a trip out to the farm this weekend to check it out.  If we like what we see, we’ll sign up to get weekly boxes of meat and vegetables (assuming they offer year round.  I may have to wait untl spring).  This will necessitate that TMOTH and I increase our culinary creativity.  I think it will be fun.  Stay tuned.

Coming tomorrow:  My November Progress report

NOTE:  OO, you might want to skip tomorrow’s post.  I will be displaying more Mom flesh than you are comfortable viewing.

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment

My Paleo Plate: 11/11/11

Posted on November 11, 2011 by paleopassage

I like the symmetry of the date today.  🙂  It’s not very often that anything in my life looks as organized as the date today.

I thought I’d give everyone another glimpse at a typical day of food.  I know I love to look at good  Food Porn.  It helps me get creative with the things I have managed to forage at the Farmer’s Market.

Here’s breakfast.  This is an omelet made from one chicken egg and one duck egg.  I got a dozen duck eggs from Salmon Creek Ranch.  They are amazing.  The omelet is stuffed with bacon, spinach and sautéed mushrooms.  The mushrooms are from Bohemian Well-being.  This batch includes shitake, trumpet and oyster mushrooms.  I’ve topped this with Sriracha Sauce.  I bought this bottle, but I’ll be making the next one from scratch.

Lunch was served at my desk at work.  On the menu is a meatloaf cooked by Matt from a recipe out of Everyday Paleo , an artichoke and garlic aoili.

I did free form cooking to prepare this dinner.  I made Pumpkin Sausage Soup and sautéed spinach from our garden with Applewood Smoked Bacon and onions.

I’ve been doing some thinking about our food foraging methods.  I am thinking of making a few modifications.  I’ll let you know what I’ve been thinking in tomorrow’s blog.

Posted in My Paleo Plate | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Paleo Recipe: Pumpkin Sausage Soup

Posted on November 10, 2011 by paleopassage

I created this recipe to make use of some ingredients I had on hand from the Farmer’s Market forage.  I had several small pie pumpkins and some Calabrese Sausage from Franco’s Sausage.  The Andouille Sausage is my absolute favorite, but this one is also very tasty.

Ingredients:

  • 1 29 oz. Can of pumpkin puree (or make puree from fresh pumpkins)
  • 1 pound Italian Hot Sausage
  • 1 cup chopped onion
  • 1 pound of sliced mushrooms
  • 2 quarts chicken stock (I make my own)
  • 1 cup canned coconut milk
  • Mae Ploy Curry Paste, to taste
  1. Quarter the pumpkins, remove the seeds and stringy material, and cook in pressure cooker for 13 minutes under pressure.

    Release pressure by running cold water over the pressure cooker.  (You could also bake the pumpkin if you do not have a pressure cooker).
  2. Remove the rinds and puree in food processor until smooth.
  3. Heat a stockpot over medium high heat.  Remove the sausage from the casings and crumble into the bottom of the pot.
  4. Cook the onions and sausage together until onions are translucent and sausage is browned.
  5. Add the other ingredients (except the curry paste).
  6. Heat just to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for several hours.
  7. Season with curry paste, if desired.

Perfect for a rainy Autumn day.

Posted in Recipes | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Book Review: Paleo Comfort Foods: Homestyle Cooking for a Gluten-Free Kitchen

Posted on November 9, 2011 by paleopassage

Paleo Comfort Foods: Homestyle Cooking for a Gluten-Free Kitchen by Julie & Charles Mayfield was published by Victory Belt Publishing in 2011.  The book is a large format paperback, with 335 pages.  It contains a Foreward by Robb Wolf, author of The Paleo Solution: The Original Human Diet with photographs by Mark Adams.

The Preface of the book outlines the Mayfields’s premise for the book.  The intention of the book is not to explain what the Paleo lifestyle is, it’s to provide a resource and guide to those who already know about the Paleo lifestyle and are looking for tips on preparing healthy and tasty food.

The introduction of the book outlines how the authors met, became involved in the Paleo lifestyle and ended up writing this book.  It’s interesting background and humanizes the authors.

The authors included sections on kitchen basics.  These sections outline the foods and tools that a well-stocked kitchen should contain.  I am a gadget lover, and enjoyed this section.

Finally we get to the meat of the book.  The recipes are divided into six sections followed by an index.  A beautiful photograph accompanies each recipe.  This book is Food Porn at its best.  My favorite recipe section is the section on Sauces.   My pre-Paleo cooking relied heavily on prepared sauces to add variety.  When I started eating the Paleo diet and eliminating processed foods, I found that many of my go to sauces had ingredients that I no longer wanted to ingest.  I was able to come up with some acceptable substitutes, but there were still some things I missed.  The sauce section of this book solves this issue and then some.  It is filled with fabulous, tasty sauces made from fresh whole foods.  The Cave Ketchup tases the way Ketchup should taste, but never did.

The Index to this book includes both ingredients and recipe names.  I find it really helps when the index also has the recipe names.  I find myself needing to flip through cookbooks that don’t list the recipe names in the index in order to find things.

I recommend this cookbook to everyone, not just to people following a Paleo Diet.  It’s a cookbook that includes recipes for healthy, tasty dishes prepared with real, whole foods.  All the recipes are gluten-free.  This cookbook is quickly becoming a staple in our household.

Posted in Review | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

A Day of Play

Posted on November 8, 2011 by paleopassage

Mark Sisson, in his presentation at the Ancestral Health Symposium 2011, discussed the importance of play in the healthy human life.

Play can mean different things to every individual.  My idea of play is to get outside and enjoy nature.  I love to hike, snow shoe, camp and spend time enjoying the outdoors.  My YO (Youngest Offspring) loves to play board games and do crafts.  These activities, which are play for her would not be for me.

Recently my BFF, She-Ra, came to visit for a weekend.  We played all over the area.  One of the highlights of our play time was our visit to Sonoma Canopy Tours.  TMOTH, She-Ra and I did their zip-line tour of the redwood canopy.

This activity met many of my criteria for play.  It was outdoors in a beautiful setting.  I was joined by people that I love.  The activity was purposeless.  I had no investment in the outcome.  I spent the entire time in the moment.  Riding on the zip-lines was exhilarating and fun.

Here are a few pictorial highlights from that day (Special thanks to our FABULOUS photographer, TMOTH).

She-Ra and I getting into our gear.

She-Ra ready for take off.

There goes She-Ra!

Now it's my turn!

Thi bridge is WAY up there.

How do we get down from here?

The perfect end to a perfect day.

If any of my loyal readers should find themselves in Sonoma County looking for a place to play, I highly recommend Sonoma Canopy Tours.

Posted in Musings | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Paleo Recipe: Kim Chi

Posted on November 7, 2011 by paleopassage

One of my recent cooking experiments was making Kim Chi.  I had multiple motivations for undertaking this particular culinary adventure.

  1. Fermented foods are healthy and delicious additions to the human diet.
  2. Fermented foods can help restore the proper balance to a person’s gut flora.  This is particularly important if antibiotics have been used recently.
  3. I was attempting to recreate a food I had many years ago.  When I lived in San Jose, my favorite Chinese restaurant was Kirin.  They used to serve a small dish of Kim Chi on every table in the same manner that Mexican restaurants serve chips and salsa.  I loved this stuff and have not been able to find anything even close.
  4. I thought it would be fun to mess around in the kitchen and ferment something.  This is play for me.

Ingredients:

  • 1 large Napa Cabbage
  • 1 gallon water
  • ½ cup coarse salt
  • 1 small head of garlic peeled and finely minced
  • ¼ cup fish sauce
  • 1/3 cup chili paste or ½ cup Korean chili powder
  • 1 bunch green onions cut into 1-inch pieces (use the dark green part too, except for the tough ends)
  • 1 cup Daiken radish, peeled and grated
  • 1 teaspoon sugar and honey
  1. Slice the cabbage lengthwise in half, then slice each half lengthwise into three sections.  Cut away the tough stem chunks.
  2. Dissolve the salt in the water in a very large container.  Submerge the cabbage under the water.  Put a plate or lid on top to make sure they stay underwater.  Let stand for 2 hours.
  3. Mix the other ingredients in a very large metal or glass bowl.
  4. Drain the cabbage, rinse it and squeeze dry.
  5. Mix the cabbage with the other ingredients.

    Note:  I found that this mixture was very delicious.  You could stop here and serve it as a cabbage salad.  I think that this is what that restaurant in San Jose was doing.
  6. Pack the Kim Chi in a clean glass jar large enough to hold it all.  Cover it tightly and let stand for 1-2 days in a cool place.
  7. Check the Kim Chi after 1-2 days.  If it’s bubbling a bit, it’s ready and should be refrigerated.  If not, let it stand another day, when it should be ready.

Once it’s fermenting, serve or store in the refrigerator.  If desired, add a sprinkle of toasted sesame seeds over the Kim Chi for serving.  Many advise to eat the Kim Chi within 3 weeks.  After that, it can get too fermented for most people’s taste.

This recipe is definitely a keeper.  I’ll be doing both the fresh and the fermented versions.

Posted in Recipes | Tagged , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

From the Internet: Sustainability of Paleo Diets

Posted on November 6, 2011 by paleopassage

Sustainability is a hot topic in the food industry right now.  Large companies such as Unilever and Walmart are joining the fray with programs intended to show consumers that they are producing sustainable foods.   Whether they really are is debatable.

I anticipate that there will be a lot of discussion going on in the Paleo community about sustainable food sources as they relate to the Paleo diet.  One of the arguments against the Paleo diet that many people bring up is a perceived lack of sustainability.

Here’s a presentation that was made at the Ancestral Health Symposium by Matt Metzgar PhD. in August 2011 on the Sustainability of Paleo Diets.

“Sustainability of paleo diets” by Matt Metzgar, PhD from Ancestry on Vimeo.

I believe that there are things that can be done to make any diet more sustainable.  Purchasing foods grown locally by small farmers is one way.  Using Permaculture and designing the environment to support people and agriculture is a related topic that might provide a solution.

This is a very complicated topic that deserves a lot of focus.  Robb Wolf has mentioned that he will be turning more attention to the topics of sustainability and his Liberty Garden concept.  This is a topic I am interested in, so you will see the things I find posted here from time to time.

Posted in From the Internet | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Farmer’s Market Forage

Posted on November 5, 2011 by paleopassage

Today TMOTH (The Man of the House) and I went foraging at the local Farmer’s Market.  I had made arrangements with John Ford Ranch of Willets to pick up a 50 pound box of his FABULOUS grass fed beef.  Here it is in all its glory.

Our freezer is now stocked for any occasion.

The Gardenburgers are for our DIL.  The pasta and potstickers are for TMOTH’s offspring.  They do not eat Paleo.

Here are the rest of the things we gathered today.

We are also still harvesting lettuce and spinach from our garden.  We got enough eggs to last for two weeks.  The dozen on the left are duck eggs.  I plan to go out with my hiking club next week unless it is raining, so we’ll miss the Farmer’s Market.

This week I plan to cook pumpkin and sausage soup, Cauliflower, Ham and Gorgonzola Salad and Cubed Round Steaks.  TMOTH is doing a slow cooked London Broil today.  He’ll probably do something later in the week with the lovely Wild King Salmon we got from Carson’s Catch.

Posted in My Paleo Plate | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

It’s Time for the Five Finger Friday Fandango!

Posted on November 4, 2011 by paleopassage

Guess what?!!!  It’s Five Finger Friday again.  Congratulations to everyone for making it through another work week.  I have an action-packed weekend planned.  I hope all my loyal readers have set aside some time for play this weekend.  As Mark Sisson pointed out in this video  play has an important role to play in a fulfilling life.

Without further ado, here is this week’s ensemble:

I’d love to feature some of my loyal readers rocking their Five Fingers along with me. If you would like to be featured in an upcoming Five Finger Friday post, email me a photo of you rocking your VFFs at paleopassage@gmail.com

Posted in Five Finger Friday | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

True Confessions Time

Posted on November 3, 2011 by paleopassage

It’s time for me to come clean about my latest obsession experiment.  I have not used shampoo or any other hair products, moisturizer, face wash, deodorant or toothpaste for more than a month.  I have been playing with using natural substitutes instead.

I do generally ascribe to the philosophy that minimizing chemical exposure is a positive thing.  I replaced a lot of my cleaning supplies and fluids with steam devices (besides reducing the chemical exposure, it’s fun to play with the steam devices.  The first time I used my steam cleaner TMOTH (The Man of the House) thought I was power washing the kitchen cabinets).  However I have my girlie side and I like my potions and lotions.

I first heard of the “No Poo” movement on one of the Barefoot Running email lists that I subscribe to.  The guys there made the whole idea sound very unappetizing.  One day I was surfing around the Cave Girl Eats site and I happened upon her body care section.  Liz Wolfe made the No Poo/natural potions options seem like a viable alternative.  Besides the reduction in chemical exposure, I was attracted to the opportunity to mix things up and play with them.

At the beginning of October I replaced my shampoo, conditioner and pomade, my facial lotions and potions, my toothpaste and my deodorant with natural alternatives.  If you are interested in what I used instead, click the links for details.  I did not alert TMOTH, The Offspring , my co-workers or friends to these changes in my hygiene habits.  Part of the fun of the experiment was seeing if anyone noticed.

The most dramatic change was caused by my new skin care regimen.  About two weeks into it The OO (Oldest Offspring) dropped by the house.  She looked at me and asked what I was doing with my skin.  She said it looked like my wrinkles had disappeared (they do appear to have receded as the skin around plumped up).  The woman who rips out my eyebrows with wax each month also commented on how good my skin was looking.  I will not be going back to my expensive Over Fifty skin care products.  That change alone will save me about $50 a month.

I feel like my hair is more manageable and easy to work with than it has ever been.  It’s curling more with fewer products.  I’ll get the expert opinion of my stylist tomorrow when I go in for a haircut.  I’ll be requesting No Poo and no other products.

I’ve also been quite happy with switching to using coconut oil as a body lotion.  All of my itchy skin issues are gone.  My skin looks smooth, with no dry patches.

The toothpaste I mixed up is a lot like the Tom’s brand of natural toothpaste.  Since Colgate Palmolive has purchased the Tom’s brand, I think I’ll continue to mix up my own.

The change that is most difficult for me to gauge the efficacy of is the deodorant substitute.   TMOTH hasn’t said anything, but he has chronic allergies and his sense of smell is not all that acute.  I haven’t noticed people recoiling in horror or veering away from me in public places.  I did ride in close quarters carpooling to hikes several times this month.  No one leaned away or made any comments wondering if something had died or rotted in the car.  I think things are working OK in the underarm arena, but more testing and observational data are needed before I can be certain.

I’m not ready to give up my makeup yet.  Wearing it is one of my daily minimum requirements.  They’ll have to pry it from my cold, dead hands when I go.   A year or two ago I switched from using chemical free mineral makeup to the hard stuff.  It’s a sad fact that when your wrinkles reach a certain depth, mineral makeup just doesn’t cut it anymore.  I think the oil cleaning method has moved my skin back into the zone where mineral makeup is again a possibility.  I’ll be switching back over to that alternative as things need to be replaced.

If any loyal readers would like to share their strategies for reducing chemical exposure, leave your tips in the comments section.

Posted in Musings, Recipes | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments