Long-winded plea to hear about your favorite recipe resources

[abyssinia]

I've been reading about Primal/Paleo for a while now, and while I'm skeptical about some of the evolutionary arguments, some of the biochemical arguments are convincing and I know over the years I tend to feel better when I eat more vegetable/protein/fruit proportional to carbs/grain. I already cook the majority of my food from "real" ingredients, so it's not an overly huge leap for me, at least in terms of dropping processed food.

I've been dabbling with paleo-style meals for a while now, and I'm considering attempting to try a month of more pure paleo and see what happens. I can see giving up bread and pasta without much trouble, but I'm pretty nervous about losing cheese, yogurt, milk and beans and about battling my sweet tooth.

Anyway, Passover (in two weeks) seemed like a good time to start, since it forces me to get partway there anyway. What I'm looking for is recipe resources. Are there any paleo recipe websites you love? Cookbooks? Things which are quick and easy, or make large batches so you can enjoy leftovers? Any tricks for fighting sugar cravings? Any easy breakfast suggestions - I'm not afraid of eating non-traditional breakfast foods, but I prefer breakfast that is quick and low on dishes - my habit is a yogurt. Since I don't eat pork, I'm particularly interested in paleo recipe resources that don't put bacon in every other recipe (I do like turkey bacon, but it doesn't always work the same).

Comments

[rydra_wong]

My latest discovery is frittata, which turns out to be one of those foods that tastes better after time in the fridge. I can write up a quick recipe if you'd like -- I was meaning to anyway.

Are you going strictly non-dairy?

For recipe ideas, I keep an eye on Health Bent and stone soup -- the latter of which is not paleo, but has a lot of recipes which are paleo/primal-friendly.

But I'm a fundamentally lazy cook -- on a day-to-day basis, I tend to stick with things which are simple enough that I can do them from memory without having to refer to a recipe, and/or modify them based on what's in the fridge. I could try to write up some of those too ...

[abyssinia]

I was addicted to quiche last summer, so frittata would be a logical step - and I see you posted instructions (and, oh god, our kitchen had it's own hot glass explosion on Monday - MESSY).

I am not sure about the dairy - my stomach really is happier when I eat yogurt and I have trouble imagining live without any cheese or milk. But I grew up in a dairy-heavy environment and have no problems digesting it, nor family history of dairy issues.

Honestly, I haven't decide how strict I will be on dairy or legumes or starchy veggies - certainly not every meal, but maybe not 100% without.

I mean, to be honest, none of the paleo resources I know of seem to be in 100% agreement of what does and does not count anyway.

I hear the lazy cook thing - I alternate between recipes I can do quick and easy and ones that take some time but make enough servings to feed me for several days.

[rydra_wong]

Yeah, my basic approach is to use this all as a basis for self-experimentation and finding out what works for my individual body and is practical in my life.

So, I seem to be fine with dairy (and Greek yoghurt is a very good thing in my life), as a fair few people are -- "Primal" is basically paleo-plus-dairy. But other people cut out dairy and find that it makes a big difference to them.

And I need significantly more carbs than many people because of the amount of intense climbing I do. OTOH, tinkering with the small amount of grains I still eat is starting to suggest that while I'm okay with some rice, my stomach may not be happy with wheat in particular. Not sure, still observing on that one.

[abyssinia]

Yeah, my basic approach is to use this all as a basis for self-experimentation and finding out what works for my individual body and is practical in my life.

*nods emphatically* I don't really see myself ever being pure primal for a length of time - more using it as a general guideline.

I think I'm nervous about fully cutting wheat. I'm not willing to 100% give it up - I seem to have no issue with it and is occasionally culturally important to me (challah, matzah, etc). But I know some studies have shown that if you stop eating it for a while, you're body slows down the enzymes it needs to digest it and you're more likely to have problems.

I don't know. Human bodies are massively complicated pieces of biological machinery.

I am thinking now, though, given how crazy my next month is going to be with the end of the semester, I may hold off serious diet tinkering until May.

one of my fave meals and makes a lot

[mschaos]

one of my fave meals is what I call artichoke stew that I throw into a crock pot

as this is a crock pot thing, all measurements are estimates

this batch consisted of
one bag TJs pearl onions, browned in cast iron (16 oz)
2 cans diced tomato
~one jar (tj's sized) roasted pepper, diced (12 oz?)
~one can artichoke hearts - diced
4 chicken thighs
a bunch or torn up kale
~ 1 tbs thyme
juice of quarter of lemon
salt and pepper to taste

method - the only prep I do with this is to brown up the onion in a bit of butter or olive oil. toss that with everything but the kale and lemon and cook 5-7 hours on low (a bit more if the chicken is frozen)

during the last hour I add the kale. I pull the chicken out and shred it and put it back in. finish it with a bit of lemon to brighten everything up

I also use spinach in this instead of kale - but I only put it in right at the end to wilt down - otherwise it just become gray

you can go veg/vegan by taking the chicken out and sub chickpeas

[leek]

Elana's Pantry</> is a gluten-free recipe site that has recently begun exploring Paleo, and she has shared Passover recipes, so that may be a place you'll enjoy checking out.