As you're all aware, it's New Years Eve and tomorrow marks the start of a new year. I used to resent the general public's musings of resolutions and better things to come. I thought that it was a way to procrastinate; setting goals for the future rather than right now. I still feel this way, to an extent, but I do find encouragement in the ability to look back over this past year and see where I am and how I got there.

When I started Crossfit in September, Coach Kevin told us to make note of 5 things you want to improve about yourself, not you're physically ability alone but yourself as a whole. I mentally marked down the area's I wanted to improve.

Patience
Trust
Accessibility
Dignity
Sense of self


I discovered paleo and began living primally in October and my life took a turn for better than I could ever imagine. I've come a long and way and have even a longer way to go but the increase in quality of life has far bypassed anything I've ever experienced. I've learnt to cherish the body I was given and take care of it with real and good food. I've learnt that I truly am I result of my lifestyle and nourishment. I learnt I need to be the change I want to see and that every moment is an opportunity to make a better decision.

Like I've said, I have a long way to go. There will always be bumps in the road, they teach us how to get over the next one. Without these "bumps" we wouldn't know how great the smooth pavement is.

I encourage everyone to make that mental note of things you want to see yourself achieve. Tuck it away in the back of your head and pull it out every now and then and see how you've improved without the obsession and stress to change.

It's gonna be a great year!

Monday's are tough for me.. it's a combination of the events of the 3 days prior including usually a hangover, probably a bit of bad eating, not enough sleep, 3 days off crossfit and just general lack of motivation and it hits me hard that last half hour before class. I had mentioned at our class today that I've gotten into the habit of intermittent fasting on Mondays as well as reviewing my plethora of what I call my "pump up videos" before I head down to crossfit. I feel great when I get to the gym, full of energy and ready to push my body to it's maximum... and maybe even past.

So here are a few of my favourite PUMP UP VIDEOS! There is a crap ton of motivational tools out there for the tough days. Never quit or say you can't.

Here's a few recipes I made over the past 2 weeks. Enjoy!

Kitchen Sink Bars
These got the name from the fact I literally threw anything I could find in the cupboards into the mixture. It's very versatile so feel free to try your own combinations!

1 cup almond flour
2 tbsp honey
2 eggs
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
whatever nuts, seeds, dried fruit you want (totally about 1-1 1/2 cups)

Combine flour, salt and baking soda. In a separate bowl whisk together the honey and eggs and add to dry ingredients. After well mixed together, stir in the extra goodies you're using.

Bake at 350 for about 15 minutes or until firm to the touch and slightly browned.

Thumbprint Christmas Cookies
These were a tradition growing up only we referred to the as "thimble cookies" and they were chuck full of flour and sugar. Here's a paleo rendition. 

1 cup coconut flour
1/2 cup coconut oil (or butter if that's your thing)
1/3 cup honey or maple syrup
4 eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/8 tsp salt
(1/4 cup cocoa powder for the chocolate variety)
dates, figs, or dark chocolate for filling
nuts, dried fruit or coconut for garnish

Combine eggs, oil, honey, vanilla and salt. Add the remaining ingredients and stir until fully mixed. Split dough in half and add cocoa powder to one half to make a chocolate batch, leave the other half as is for a vanilla cookie.

Roll into small balls, about the size of a tablespoon. Place on to greased parchment paper. Use your thumb (or a thimble) to press the centre in.

Bake at 375 for 15 minutes. Once cooled, fill with whatever you like. I cooked down figs with water and honey until it made a jam and used that as well as melted down dark chocolate and sprinkled with coconut shavings and dried apricot.



Sesame Seed Crackers
I've been searching for a cracker replacment that doesn't use an almond or coconut flour and I found it! These are awesome and non-paleo type also LOVE them.

1 cup sesame seeds
1 cup sunflower seeds
1/4 cup water


Use a food processor to blend the sunflower seeds into a sort of a flour, about 2-3 minutes. Add sesame seeds to processor and pulse a few times. Remove mixture from processor and place into a bowl, stir in water.


Roll the cracker dough out between to well greased peices of parchment paper until it's a consistent thickness throughout (about 1/4 inch). Score dough lightly to make for easy cutting once crackers are cooled.


Bake at 350 until golden and crisp, depending on thickness about 20 minutes.


Christmasy Fruit and Nut Treats
I've made these 3 times since the first batch, I can't seem to keep them in the freezer long enough between Fraser and I's love for chocolate. I literally used handfuls as measurements, like most of my recipes, it's very versatile so don't feel like you need to stick too closely to this recipe.

1/4 cup honey
1 cup pumpkin seeds
1 cup sunflower seeds
1/2 pecan pieces
1/2 cup goji berries
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup dried apricot pieces
1/2 cup unsweetened coconut
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1tsp vanilla extract
1 egg, beaten
dark chocolate

Melt honey in a large enough bowl for all ingredients. While honey is liquid, stir in all ingredients except the egg. Mix it very well until everything is sticking together, you may need to melt and add some more honey. Once well mixed, stir in egg and transfer to well greased parchment paper. Use the back of a spoon to press into a consistently 1 inch layer, be sure to make edges pressed in as well or they will burn (you could use a baking pan).

Bake at 350 for about 10-15 minutes or until edges at slightly browned and the centre is firm to touch. Let cool completely. Melt dark chocolate and drizzle generously over the entire thing. Place in freezer until frozen, or almost. Cut into desired sized pieces. I keep my squares in the freezer to ensure the stay together until Christmas (and kind of hidden) and I love frozen sweet treats!

*If they don't want to stay together (which happened for one of my batches) you could crumble the bars into bigger pieces and serve as more of a nixed fruit, nut and chocolate "granola" snack in a bowl.

Not Derby but kinda looks like him hey??

So I've been a little lacking in the updating recipes department, so here are a few!

Meatza! The Best Thing Since... Meat

1lb ground lean meat
1 tbsp italian seasoning
1 clove crushed garlic
2 tsp salt
ground pepper
2 eggs
1/4 tsp cayenne
pizza sauce (homemade of course!)
pizza toppings (this is where your taste comes into play, use whatever you have in the fridge if you want!)

Preheat oven to 350. Use a cookie or pizza pan, oil it very well.  Combine meat, seasoning, garlic, salt, pepper, eggs and cayenne. Mix well and spread on the oiled pan, keep the thickness to a consistent 1/4"-1/2". Cook in over for about 25 minutes depending on thickness, meat should be completely cooked, it will shrink in size. Drain off fat, add sauce and toppings and pop back in the oven under the broiler until the toppings are nicely browned. Mmmm meatza!

Ignore the ugly presentation.. I didn't think I was going to be blogging this.

Red Cabbage and Beet Slaw
(taken from Paleo Spirit)

1/4 head of red cabbage
1 medium raw beet
1 carrot
1/4 red onion
1/4 cup fresh parsley
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp cider vinegar
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper

I used my wonderful food processor, I used the slicing blade for the cabbage and the shredding blade for the beet and carrot. You can use a knife and finely chop them instead if you'd like. Chop the onion and parsley nice and fine. Add everything to a big bowl and stir well, let sit for at least 30 minutes with occasional stirring.





Paleo Chimichurri Sauce and Marinade
(also taken from Paleo Spirit)


3 cups fresh cilantro
1 1/2 cups fresh parsley
1/2 cup fresh oregano
3/4 olive oil
1/4 red wine vinegar
1/4 lime juice
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cayenne or 1/2 tsp crushed chilli flakes
4 garlic cloves
1 shallot
1 jalapeno pepper

Again I used my food processor, you would need either that or a blender for this recipe. I simply added everything together and used the chopping blade until it was the consistency I wanted. This is amazing on ANYTHING! Cooked meat or as a marinade is great, even veggies! It keeps very well in the fridge.

All put together for a really yummy dinner. I used some leftovers the next day for a really tasty lunch. Sui Choy leaves filled with diced chicken, parsley, slaw and chimichurri sauce.

Since forgoing my conventional diet of no fat, low protein and only veggies I've been kind of M.I.A. in society. Meals out are very few and far in between, visits to the bar with friends has become an anxiety ridden adventure and time is lost in the kitchen hovering over the stove. The one beautiful thing I rediscovered was sushi.. well, sashimi. Back in the day I used to love yam tempura rolls, edamame, miso soup and fried tofu. Now I stick to tuna/salmon sashimi and gomae and seaweed salad without dressing. Most restaurants will also give you a side of avocado if asked (some more generous than others.)

I do, however, miss the diversity of rolls. So I set out to create a paleo sushi roll. AND IT WORKED! Now in this recipe I used whatever veggies I had lying around plus some tuna we had bought. You can vary it up any way you'd like with different meats, veggies and sauces. Keep in mind that soy sauce is a no-no in the paleo diet because of it's soybean and wheat content. Tamari or Bragg's are gluten free (without the wheat) but still contain soybeans. We used a little bit of Bragg's and considered it a safer cheat (haha)

Another little note.. sashimi grade fish can be hard to come by and more expensive. The fish store we frequent usually has sashimi tuna in stock but not always and never salmon. After we had asked why this was, they told us a little secret. Tuna doesn't contain the same bacteria as salmon and will generally always come sashimi grade. You can make your own sashimi grade salmon by buying fresh salmon and freezing it for 72 hours, defrosting and using. This kills any harmful bacteria that the salmon may contain. You can do the same thing with scallops and shrimp.

Paleo Tuna Roll

300g sashimi grade tuna
seaweed paper
carrot
beet
green onion
zucchini
1/2 avocado
wasabi paste
Bragg's or Tamari Soy Sauce
bamboo sushi roller

Throw the tuna in the freezer for about 20-30 minutes, this will harden the fish enough to be able to slice it into thin strips. Julienne the veggies into thin, long strips. I microwaved the carrot and beet for a minute or so to soften them up before slicing. Puree the avocado with a fork in a bowl, this will work as your "glue"

Place one piece of seaweed paper on the bamboo roller. Take a generous spoonful of the avocado puree and spread over the paper, making sure to reach the far edge. Arrange the veggies and fish along the bottom, about an inch from the edge. Lift the roller and carefully fold the paper over itself, pulling the roller up over the paper. Give it a good squeeze to keep tight before continuing to roll.

Use a serrated knife to cut into desired sized pieces. Serve with wasabi and soy sauce, ENJOY! This made 5 small rolls for us.

I'm coming up on my 4th month of crossfit and 3rd month of paleo and I can honestly say I've never felt better in my life. I can only imagine how much better it will get with time. I just want to touch on a few obstacles I have encountered so far. Obsession, fear and guilt.

I've always been the kind of person to dive into something completely. Food has always been a huge obsessive thing for me and when I was introduced to paleo I was no less obsessive. I researched every corner of this way of living. Spent hours and hours online reading everything I could get my hands on. With every article I read I would take it all to heart and completely change my way of thinking to accommodate the opinions of the blogger I had just followed. I would eat only almonds, then I would read that they were "bad" and freaked out and omitted them entirely. I would eat all raw and then freak out about antinutrients and cook everything to death and scold myself for depriving my body of the things it needed for so long. I couldn't stop thinking or talking about it and I'm almost positive my friends, coworkers and clients have had more than enough already. I felt extreme guilt if I had a glass of wine or anything not organic. I would beat myself up to the point of not enjoying my workouts or meals because I didn't know if I was doing everything "right".  I had a bit of a epiphany about a month ago when I realized that this obsession was no better or less detrimental than my past food issues. This got me thinking about where I fit in paleo and primal living. When I could find a comfortable spot, knowing what I need to fuel myself with and for.

I know that I definitely have all the knowledge I need to slowly find what works well for me and my body. I've adopted a more healthy way of thinking about meal times and not obsessing over a craving for dark chocolate and wine. I am learning to listen to my body rather than letting my "crazy girl brain" take over (Fraser, my boyfriend, knows all about this aspect of me.) It's all a journey of self-realization really and I'm not finished and hope I will continue to tune in to the body that I was given. I encourage you all to try to do the same. Paleo is a huge crazy world of information (some that totally contradicts itself) and you really need to find where you fit in to remain a happy and sane person.

I'm always open to emails with questions, comments or relatable information. daisyvelisek@gmail.com

I haven't had a ton to write about lately. I'm not baking much, mostly because I tend to eat the outcome of my experiments WAY too quickly. We've been eating fairly plainly and upping our red meats by alot (check out T- Bones on Spall, free range top sirloin specials are 5 for $20, you can't go wrong buying that in bulk and freezing.)

Do you gym members remember Coach Kevin's amazing salad from last months BBQ? Well it was great and he has submitted the following recipe to me to post.

Kev's Warm Radicchio Salad

1 pack of bacon ends (from Johnny's Meats in Kelowna)
1 head radicchio lettuce
1 cup sui choy
1/4 cup green onion
1/4 cup cilantro (optional)
2 cups spinach
1/2 cup chopped dried figs

Fry bacon and keep warm on low heat. Chop radicchio, sui choiy green onion, cilantro and add to a big bowl. Add spinach and dried figs. Dice cooked bacon and add to salad mixture as well as the bacon fat in the pan.

Dressing


1 egg yolk
1 oz olive oil
1  tbsp mustard seeds
1 tsp honey
1/2 lemon

Emulsify the yolk and olive oil. Add the mustard seeds, honey and juice of the lemon. Mix well.
Serves 2-4

Comments people! Please let me know if you have an recipes, ideas, questions or requests for posts. I'm thinking about doing a big post in the next week on intermittent fasting and leptin resets. Interested??

I've been trying to up my running lately. It's a beautiful time of year and the plethora of parks around the city make it easy to bust out some box jumps, pull-ups, wall climbs and anything else you can imagine. I came across this video while checking out some of my daily primal reads. Try it out next time you get a chance to run.

The Lost Secret of Running - 100 Up Technique

We found some extra lean ground salmon at Nesters and I thought I'd try to create a salmon burger recipe for the blog. They turned out really delicious. I'll definitely be picking up some more ground salmon, it's a really nice change to work with.


Salmon Burgers


1/2 lb ground salmon
1/2 cup zucchini, chopped fine
1/2 medium onion, chopped fine
1-2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 egg
salt and pepper to taste


Combine all ingredients in a bowl, mix well and add any spices you may want. Form into desired sized patties. I made 4 smaller ones. Heat pan with coconut oil or olive oil. Fry each side for about 4-5 minutes, or until cooked through. I topped mine with some homemade limey guacamole.

Sheep Shabu-Shabu, gomae, seaweed salad and tuna sashimi

Gomae with cucumber

Wakame Seaweed Salad

My one day Vancouver tripped wasn't as difficult as I thought it might be, copious amounts of driving aside. I did have to ditch the whole local, organic and grass fed mentality though. I made a trip to Johnny's Meats before the trip and loaded up on jerky and buffalo pepperoni beforehand. We pretty much just snacked on that and then ate salads from salad bars (lonsdale quay market has an unreal one) and sashimi. I will say that I probably ate about 140-150 grams of protein the entire day and had a hard time even thinking of meat today. 


Oh and I made some last minute little chocolate bar things that I'd probably change up quite a bit next time as they were way to cocoa-y and not enough filler. Here's the recipe of what I would do instead of what I did.


Paleo Chocolate and Nut Bars


1/2 cup sunflower seeds
1/2 cup pumpkin seeds
1/2 cup almonds (hazelnuts would be great too)
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/4 cup unsweetened coconut
3 tbsp honey
2 eggs


Add both seeds and half of the almonds into a food processor and process until fine, but not over processed to a nut butter. Add the remaining almonds and pulse a few times to leave them in larger pieces. Scrape the mixture into a bowl and add the cocoa powder, coconut and honey and mix well. In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs slightly and add them into the seed and nut mixture and mix. You could omit the eggs for an unbaked bar but I wanted to add some protein and wasn't sure how they would hold up traveling if they weren't baked.


You can either spread this onto parchment paper about 1/2 an inch thick or roll into bite sized balls for baking. I decided to opt for the bar method. Bake at 350 for 10 minutes (balls might take longer), let cool  slightly before cutting into desired bar sizes. Then let cool completely.


In other news, Robb Wolf put a great article up (written by someone else) about antinutrients that really got me thinking about the way I cook my food. I've always tried to eat at raw as possible when it came to veggies but in this article the author explains very simply how antinutrients are the plants form of repelling it's predators (us) biochemically, they absorb nutrients from the foods they are found in. Meaning we are being robbed of our precious nutrients! 


The 3 main ones are phytates, oxalates and goitrogens. Phytic acid binds itself to calcium, magnesium, zinc and iron and is mostly found in grains and legumes. Not our problem anymore right? The can be broken down and neutralized by soaking, sprouting and fermented. So don't be too worried about serving them to your family if you do. 


Goitrogens effect our thyroid function and are found in some great veggies like brussels sprouts, kale, all cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower and collard greens. They too can be avoided by most cooking and fermentation. Which really makes sense.. most of those veggies and typically enjoyed cooked anyways.


Onto oxalates... much like phytates, these bind to vital nutrients and make it hard for the body to absorb them. Spinach, chard, blueberries, beef tops, cocoa and dark chocolate, to name a few, contain oxalates and are also best to serve cooked to avoid the nutrient stunting effect in our body.


So really, as long as you're cooking the veggies that make sense to cook, you should be fine and full of all the vitamins and minerals you need. She mentions that the negative effects of eating these veggies don't outweigh the good they do, but eaten in large amounts and very frequently they can definitely cause a deficiency in the good stuff we think they are giving us. So don't get fixated on just a couple veggies, eat a wide variety of the great produce available to us here in the okanagan. Stay seasonal and make sure you eat as many colours as possible. This will insure you're not depleting yourself of iron while wolfing done 10 cups of raw spinach a day!

Hello to my fellow gym members! Thanks for checking the blog out. I've been a little too busy for posting this weekend but I want to wish you all a Happy Halloween and remind you to email me any recipes, questions or idea's for future posts. My email is daisyvelisek@gmail.com

In the spirit of going to Vancouver on Tuesday I will be working on a traveling while paleo post coming up this week.

Hope you all got to dress up and be silly this Halloween, I know we did! Haha

This post was inspired by a friend of mine (actually a few friends of mine) who put primal living into a little box that I like to call "but cavemen didn't have." Maybe it's just the lack of education and information in the general public, but man! It irritates me. So first I thought I'd make a short video to explain in all as simply as possible, then I spent some time looking around the internet and lo and behold! It already exists.

Sorry for the music... just mute it.

Well, it's happened. I had my first bad paleo "cheat."  Cheats will happen but when they do we need to move onward and upward and not lose yourself. Every moment is a new opportunity to make better choices.

YUM!

After a trip to Johnny's Meats here in Kelowna the other day, we came home totting 3 hefty bags full of different meats (I was getting a little protein bored.) One of which was a nice grass fed roast. I've never really been into red meats before lately. I always deemed it as "bad" for you. But I can now say that I've consumed about 2 times the red meat I had in my entire life in the past month. And I LIKE it!


I had no idea how to cook a roast so I left that one up to Fraser, making him pinky promise he would keep it paleo. 

I went to work on the rest of what turned out to be a very hearty fall paleo meal, dessert and all.

First I realized I hadn't used my organic pumpkin that I had received over a week ago from Urban Harvest, so I decided to try a few different things with that. 


Arrange squash pieces on a piece of tinfoil, drizzle with olive oil. Distribute spices throughout the pieces and finish with salt and fresh cracked pepper. Fold up the foil and bake at 350 for 45 minutes or until tender.


Arrange squash pieces on a piece of tinfoil, drizzle with honey. sprinkle cinnamon and finish off with a touch of salt. Fold up the foil and bake at 350 for 45 minutes or until tender.


Both turned out great. I definitely favoured the sweet batch but I have a bit of a sweet tooth.


I had been dying to try cauliflower mash since I failed miserably at it a few months ago. I looked around the internet and found what seemed to be a fail-proof recipe on Paleo Comfort Foods, so fail-proof that she served it at her wedding reception... now that's confidence!


The Most Amazing Mashed Cauliflower 


1 head cauliflower
2 cloves crushed garlic
1-2 tbsp rosemary
1 cup chicken broth


Cut the stem out of the cauliflower and chop up into florets. Put these pieces into a medium sized pot. Add the chicken broth, crushed garlic and rosemary. Simmer on medium for about 20-30 minutes on until soft enough to break apart with a fork and almost all the broth is gone.


Add cooked cauliflower and remaining broth into the food processor and pulse until as creamy and smooth as you like. You can add other spices at this point. I found the broth added enough salt so I only added pepper. Dill or chives might be nice to add. You can add some                  coconut milk to make it even more creamy and rich but I didn't feel the need to.


This was honestly the best faux mashed potatoes I have ever had! Perfect consistency and taste. Even Fraser liked it! I would definitely serve this to guests or as a potluck dish.








Cranberry Coconut Loaf


¾ cup coconut flour
½ cup coconut oil or butter, melted
6 eggs
3 tablespoons honey
½ cup shredded coconut
1 cup fresh cranberries
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder


Blend together eggs, oil, honey and salt. Combine coconut flour with baking powder and whisk thoroughly into batter until there are no lumps. Stir in shredded coconut and cranberries. Pour into greased loaf pan and bake at 350F for 35 minutes. Remove from pan and cool on rack.

It turned out so good! Best baking project so far!


All in all it was a very good meal and my first endeavour into non-baking paleo recipe blogging. Enjoy!

Since adopting the paleo diet, and telling fellow gym members and keeners alike, I've noticed a big hurdle for a lot of people is alcohol. We tend to tie alcohol to everything, bad or good. Bad day at work, have a drink. Promotion at work, celebratory drink. It's what keeps us relaxed and social, right? So what about it's role in the paleo diet?

Well we could sit around beating ourselves up for what seems like depending on a "drug." I feel as though the positive, calming and social effects of alcohol far outweigh the negative stigma. Paleo living is meant to make us feel good, mentally, physically and emotionally. If you need a glass of wine to help you get there at the end of the day, DO IT.

Now I'm not condoning anything excessive. I myself like to have 1-2 drinks in the evening with dinner or while winding down. Use alcohol as a tool, not a crutch. Don't go and get wasted every night thinking, "this is good for me! It's helping me 'wind down!'"

Now all that being said, there are better alcohol choices out there in the paleo community. First and foremost, 100% agave tequila is your best bet. If you haven't been graced with the knowledge of the NorCal Marg... get ready for this drink recipe:

NorCal Margarita (the best thing since bacon wrapped anything)

2 shots 100% agave tequila
juice and pulp from 1 lime
topped with ice
splash of soda

This drink just makes sense, the tequila is fermented agave juice (gluten and starch-free,) the lime blunts insulin release and helps maintain insulin sensitivity. The lime also produces a great alkaline kidney load. The bubbly soda helps the ethanol enter the blood stream more quickly, so you can drink less for the same effects. More bang for your buck!

Mark Berkhan also has a very interesting take on the science behind alcohol and our body. He breaks it down in such an in depth way that you can't help but want to praise the alcohol gods and mix yourself up a NorCal. Here's a link to his article on The truth about alcohol, fat loss and muscle growth.


Cheers!

As I was writing that last post I remembered I had some organic pure pumpkin left in my fridge from Thansgiving baking.. so that prompted another batch of muffins using coconut flour. Behold..


Paleo Pumpkin Muffins

½ cup butter or organic coconut oil
5 eggs, beaten
1 tsp vanilla
½ pumpkin puree
1/4 cup honey
½ cup coconut flour
½ tsp baking powder
1 & ½ tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp cloves
1/4 tsp nutmeg
pinch of salt


Combine the wet ingredients (oil/butter, eggs, vanilla, pumpkin and honey) and beat well. In a separate bowl, mix together the rest of the dry ingredients (coconut flour, baking powder, spices, and salt) and mix into the wet ingredient mixture. Beat with a whisk until no remaining clumps. Pour into greased muffin tin (again could be a loaf) and bake at 400F for 25-30 minutes, or until golden brown and toothpick comes out clean. Let cool and enjoy!


And this time I took pictures!

I recently got the hang of Paleo baking. After a few botch jobs, I've realized that coconut floor works alot different than other Paleo flours. Almond meal seems to be the collective choice for most recipes I've seen out there but I was determined to knock out a kickass coconut flour recipe... and I did.


Coconut Chocolate Chunk Muffins

¾ cup Organic Coconut Flour
½ cup Organic Virgin Coconut Oil or butter, melted
6 eggs
3 tablespoons honey
½ cup shredded coconut
½ cup dark organic chocolate, cut into chunks
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder