Paleo diet recipe Christmas Lemon and Thyme Guinea Fowl dinner lunch-min

Recipe: Christmas Lemon and Thyme Guinea Fowl

If you fancy a change from all the turkey you will inevitably consume over this festive period, I have two words for you. Guinea Fowl. When cooked and seasoned correctly, the delightfully rich and gamey taste of this bird seriously rivals the more ‘traditional’ poultry we know and love. The classic combination of lemon and thyme freshen this up somewhat, and it provides a great centre piece to all your favourite Christmas vegetables.

Guinea Fowl Ingredients:

  • 1 Guinea Fowl (roughly 1kg)
  • 8 sprigs fresh thyme
  • 1 lemon
  • 4 cloves garlic
  • Sea Salt and Black Pepper

Guinea Fowl How To:

Preheat an oven to 180C / 350F / Gas mark 4. Collect the zest from the lemon.

Cut the lemon in half and stuff it inside the guinea fowl, along with the garlic cloves and 4 of the thyme sprigs. Squeeze the juice from the leftover lemon half all over the bird, and rub in the remaining thyme leaves and a pinch of salt and pepper.

Place the bird in a roasting dish and cover with foil. Roast in the oven for 40 minutes.

Remove the foil, and roast for a further 20 minutes. Check the bird is cooked through by piercing the thigh with a skewer – the juices should run clear when cooked.

Paleo diet recipe Christmas Lemon and Thyme Guinea Fowl dinner lunch-min

Paleo christmas menu plan dinner lunch primal diet-min

Christmas Menu Plan

What are you cooking this Christmas? Are you going with a traditional menu, or perhaps you're serving up something completely alternative?

It can be hard to stick to your good Paleo intentions over Christmas – particularly if you’re having to cater for lots of relatives, who perhaps don’t follow a healthy lifestyle like you do.

Traditional Christmas recipes are often full of the dangerous white stuff – sugar. How can you take the sugar out of the equation, without taking the fun away too?

I Quit Sugar Christmas Meal Plan

Sarah Wilson has got a great festive ebook, to go along with her “I Quit Sugar” series. The “I Quit Sugar Christmas Meal Plan” contains three entire, step by step, Christmas meal plans that you can follow, or mix and match. There is a big buffet menu, a sugar free version of the traditional Christmas menu – as well as a summer barbeque menu for those of us celebrating from the Southern Hemisphere. The meal plans are organised to be made in advance, leaving the big day itself a lot less stressful!

The book also features a leftovers menu (we know we all end up with enough food to last the rest of the year!), homemade sugar free gifts (much better than buying gifts), cheat dishes, fermented recipes (great for your gut health) and bonus recipes from other bloggers (including Gwyneth Paltrow).

If you want to check out the Christmas Meal Plan ebook, you can find it here.

What are your menu plans this Christmas? I’d love to hear what you’re organising, so please share in the comments below!

Paleo christmas menu plan dinner lunch primal diet-min

The paleo guide to Christmas dinner lunch meal plan recipe diet-min

The Paleo Guide To Christmas Dinner

So on the face of it you might be thinking Paleo and Christmas don’t go together. Perhaps you need to have a week or two “off” your Paleo diet until the festivities are over? Not so fast! Your Christmas Dinner might just be a lot more Paleo than you realised!

Turkey

Turkey is a fantastic Paleo meat! Make sure your turkey is from a good source and fully pastured (you might need to order this in advance to ensure you get a good one!) and you’ll have a great high protein, low carb meat to base your lunch around.

The paleo guide to Christmas dinner lunch meal plan recipe diet-min

Gravy

Use the meat juices to make a beautifully Paleo gravy. Once you’ve made a proper gravy, you’ll wonder how you used to eat instant gravy mixes!

Cranberry Sauce

Cranberry sauce and turkey is an amazing combination – and of course cranberries are Paleo – just make your own sauce instead of buying a sugar laden version, perfect for Christmas dinner

Paleo Cranberry Sauce Recipe

Ingredients:

  • 750ml (3 cups) of cranberries
  • Juice of two oranges
  • 1 tsp orange zest, finely grated
  • 1 tsp fresh ginger, finely grated
  • ½ teaspoon cinnamon

Paleo Cranberry Sauce How To:

Boil the orange juice and add the cranberries. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for 5 – 10 minutes until the berries have all burst and released their flavour. Remove from the heat and add the cinnamon and zest. Stir and allow to cool before refrigerating. Will keep for a few days in the fridge.

Potatoes

Potatoes are off the menu – but all is not lost! Just replace them with sweet potatoes which are perhaps even more delicious.

Brussels Sprouts

Sprouts are a perfect green, so pile them up high! If you’re not so keen on the taste try cooking them up with a bit of ginger for a great taste.

Christmas Pudding

Traditional Christmas puddings are often very wheat and sugar based – but who says you have to be traditional? How about chocolate avocado mousse for afters?

What is on your Christmas dinner menu , I’d love to hear in the comments below? Are you making some changes and keeping it Paleo?

Roasted festive spiced nuts christmas paleo diet recipes-min

Recipe: Roasted Festive Spiced Nuts

Hot, roasted spiced nuts, gently seasoned with fragrant, festive spices. Wonderful as a gift to friends this Christmas – if they make it out of the house, that is! Portion control went out of the window for me as soon as I removed these from the oven, and anything that was left was immediately demolished by the rest of my hungry family!

Spiced Nuts Ingredients:

  • 400 grams mixed raw nuts (I used a mix of Almonds, Brazils and Pecans, but Cashews, Walnuts and Macadamia would work great too!)
  • 1 egg white
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 tbsp unrefined molasses
  • 2 tbsp fresh rosemary, chopped
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1 tsp ground coriander
  • ½ tsp ginger
  • ½ tsp cloves
  • ½ tsp sea salt

Spiced Nuts How To:

Preheat the oven to 150C / 300F / Gas mark 2. Line a large ovenproof tray with some baking parchment.

In a bowl, whisk the egg white until it becomes foamy. Stir in all the remaining ingredients, bar the nuts at this stage.

Now add the nuts to the spice mixture, using your hands to really coat them well. Lay them out on the baking tray, and place in the oven for 20 – 25 minutes, until golden brown. Stir once halfway through the cooking time.

Leave to cool for 5 minutes before serving.

Roasted festive spiced nuts christmas paleo diet recipes-min

9 ways to keep it paleo at Christmas holiday diet health-min

9 Ways to Keep it Paleo This Christmas

With all of the festivities at this time of year, you might be worried about keeping it Paleo? Well, with a bit of planning and organisation, there’s no need to worry about foregoing your health this Christmas.

  • Remember how you feel after you eat gluten/ drink alcohol/ eat something that doesn't agree with you.
  • Organise to host your own party/ dinner, early, to ensure you have control over the menu. You’ll be surprised how many friends will ask you for the recipes!
  • If you’re going out of Christmas events try eating before you leave, as when hunger strikes it’s harder to avoid the bad options
  • Call the venue ahead to check on the menu options, and see how they can accommodate you. You’ll find many places happy to tweak their Christmas menu to accommodate.
  • If you’re going to a friend's event, bring your own dishes to ensure there will be some good options you can have
  • Don’t let anyone pressure you into eating badly – often people seem keen to sabotage the good efforts of others (perhaps because it makes them feel better about their own bad choices) – so be prepared!
  • Don’t be afraid to lie – sometimes it’s just easier to say you have an allergy or intolerance instead of explaining why you eat this way (have you ever done this?)
  • If you have the chance to organise a Christmas event yourself, choose a venue with more paleo options – or better still arrange an event that isn't based around food.

And finally:

  • If you do fall off the wagon, tomorrow is another day. Don’t beat yourself up over it – but don’t let the slip justify more bad eating! Move on and eat well again.

How do you find sticking to a Paleo diet at this time of year? What are your top tips for success?

9 ways to keep it paleo at Christmas holiday diet health-min

Natural alternatives to soap paleo healthcare skincare recipe-min

Natural Alternatives To Soap

So you’re careful to eat a natural paleo diet, but what skincare products do you use? Have you looked at the ingredients in the soap you use?

While soap is considered a necessity by most people for keeping clean, if often comes loaded with chemicals. Soap can also be very drying to a lot of skin types and strips the skin of its natural moisturisers and of its natural defences.

While there are many natural soaps based around essential oils and herbs, there are alternatives to keeping your skin clean without the need for soap.

Essential Oils

For some added fragrance when it comes to bath time, try adding some essential oils to the bath water. Camomile or lavender make an ideal combination if for relaxing, peppermint oils are good for stimulating and lifting your mood, and ylang ylang and geranium essential oils will increase your feeling of well-being.

Natural alternatives to soap paleo healthcare skincare recipe-min

Epsom Salts

Some people find that once they have stopped using soap their skin becomes much drier. For some people this might be temporary, while for others the skin can continue to remain dry. Adding some Epsom salts to a tub of bath water will help soften the skin. Epsom salts are also believed to have many health benefits. The magnesium content helps to relax nerves and muscles and reduce stress. Epsom salts are also thought to reduce toxins in the body and relieve muscle cramps and pain.

Coconut Oil

Coconut oil is great on the skin – and if you have dry skin, applying coconut oil will certainly help.

Instead of using soap, try filling a muslin cloth with your selected herbs and then add in five to ten drops of essential oils. Tie the muslin cloth to the bath tap and let the aromas spill out.  The muslin cloth can also be used to exfoliate the skin and slough away dead skin cells without the need for an exfoliator, which can be damaging to some skin types.

Do you use a commercial soap, or have you found a more natural alternative? Share your suggestions and recipes in the comments section.

Why You Should Add High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) To Your Workout paleo fitness exercise crossfit primal diet-min

Why You Should Add High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) To Your Workout

What exactly is high intensity interval training?

High intensity interval training (HIIT) has become a bit of a buzz word in the Paleo community, but what is it? HIIT is a series of short high intensity workout intervals combined with short “recovery” intervals.

Instead of spending hours on the treadmill, a HIIT is far shorter, consisting of short bursts of very strenuous workout, broken up with recovery intervals. You might sprint for a minute as fast as possible, then recover for two minutes several times.

Why You Should Add High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) To Your Workout paleo fitness exercise crossfit primal diet-min

What are the benefits of HIIT?

1. You can burn far more fat in HIIT. After you complete a high intensity workout, your body burns more fat than if you were to run for 30 minutes at a steady pace.

2.  You push your heart and make it stronger because you are making it go to a limit that it won’t go to if you remain doing low intensity workouts.

3.  You will lose fat, not muscle.

4.  You can do it anywhere.  You don’t need a gym with lots of equipment.  You can just go outside and run.

5.  It’s challenging.  This is something you need to set aside time to do.  You cannot relax and watch a movie or read a book while you try to do a few sit-ups.  This requires your focus and commitment which will result you feeling better and help you to obtain good results.

Of course, it is important to not over do it.  When you engage in high intensity interval training it may be tempting to keep pushing yourself until you are working out for an hour or more and doing more intensity intervals than recovery intervals.

The conventional wisdom workouts, where people spend hours on a treadmill or cross trainer are “chronic cardio”, which is not the key to fitness that it might seem. Chronic cardio can result in muscular fatigue, oxidative stress and a stress generally on the body.

Crossfit incorporates HIIT in it’s WOD’s (workout of the day), this makes up just a small part of a class – and the actual activities making up the HIIT element are always varied.

Do you do HIIT? I’d love to hear how you workout, add your comment, below!

Sicilian Style Grilled Vegetables paleo recipe dinner lunch side veggies root-min

Recipe: Sicilian Style Grilled Vegetables

Seasonal, saucy and oh so summery, enjoy these Sicilian inspired grilled vegetables at the height of summer when they are at the peak of their powers. Excellent with some roast pork loin or grilled chicken.

Sicilian Vegetables Ingredients:

  • 1 green capsicum (bell pepper), cut into chunks
  • 1 yellow capsicum (bell pepper), cut into chunks
  • 2 red onions, cut into wedges
  • 1 large zucchini (courgette), sliced thickly
  • 1 aubergine, cut into chunks
  • 5 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 red chilli pepper, deseeded and chopped
  • 1 tsp dried oregano
  • 4 garlic cloves, crushed
  • 1 x 400g can chopped tomatoes
  • 2 tbsp capers
  • 3 dried figs, diced
  • Small handful fresh basil leaves

Sicilian Vegetables How To:

Heat the grill to a medium – high heat. In a heat proof roasting dish, drizzle the capsicum (peppers), aubergine and courgette with 3 tbsp of the olive oil and season well with some salt and pepper. Spread the vegetables out as well as possible, then place under the grill for 20 minutes, turning every now and then.

In a large, heavy based pan, fry the onion, garlic, chilli and oregano in the remaining olive oil for a few minutes. Add the tomatoes, stir and simmer for 3 – 4 minutes until they begin to reduce down.

Add the grilled veg to the pan, and toss well in the sauce. Add 200ml freshly boiled water along with the capers and figs. Cover and simmer for around 15 minutes.

Serve immediately, garnished with the torn fresh basil leaves.

Sicilian Style Grilled Vegetables paleo recipe dinner lunch side veggies root-min

Griddled tuna steaks with coriander and capers paleo recipe fish dinner lunch-min

Recipe: Griddled Tuna Steaks with Coriander and Capers

When cooking tuna steaks, only the best will do. Buy ‘Sushi Grade’ tuna, which you can effectively eat raw, and cook it to medium. This way, the fish will do the talking, and you won’t need overpowering sauces or marinades to make it palatable.

Griddled Tuna Steaks Ingredients:

  • 2 sushi grade tuna steaks
  • 1 small handful fresh coriander, roughly chopped
  • 1 tbsp capers, rinsed and dried
  • Juice and zest of 1 lime
  • 1 clove garlic
  • 2 spring onions, trimmed and chopped
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • Salt and pepper

Griddled Tuna Steaks How To:

Heat a griddle to a very high heat, and brush with a little olive oil.

Whizz together all the ingredients, bar the tuna, to form a light dressing. Set aside.

When the griddle is really, really hot and the oil is smoking, throw on the tuna steaks. Sear for 1 and a half minutes each side, so still pink in the middle. Remove from the heat, and drizzle with the dressing.

Griddled tuna steaks with coriander and capers paleo recipe fish dinner lunch-min

What Has Fukushima Got To Do With You radiation contamination paleo diet natural health-min

What Has Fukushima Got To Do With You?

I'm sure you’re aware of the Fukushima disaster that hit Japan in 2011 – but you might be wondering what it has to do with you?

Following a big earthquake, a tsunami followed, which destroyed the Fukushima Daichi nuclear power plant. This result in almost unimaginable levels of radiation. Whilst a clean up operation is underway, with the levels of radiation, the clean up effort is a drop in the ocean. Several deaths have already occurred due to the radiation that came from the disaster.

What exactly has radiation from the Fukushima disaster done to the food chain, especially fish? Is what you are eating healthy?

Scientists have been tracking the effect of the radiation in fish since the disaster. Radiation has been discovered in fish as far away as California.

What Has Fukushima Got To Do With You radiation contamination paleo diet natural health-min

What are the risks of eating fish with traces of radiation?

Unfortunately this is not an easy question to answer. Nuclear power and environmental health expert Rosalie Bertell said “Should the public discover the true health costs of nuclear pollution, a cry would rise from all parts of the world, and people would refuse to cooperate passively with their own death”.  She also said “Claiming nuclear production of energy is ‘clean’ is like dieting, but stuffing yourself with food between meals”.

One of the problems with quantifying the dangers of radiation like this, is that the half life is so long, the damage will be done for years and years to come. It’s hard to predict today, how much damage the disaster will cause over the next few generations.

How Can You Stay Safe?

It’s really important to know exactly where your food comes from. So much frozen fish is imported from overseas – and unfortunately with the labelling laws in some countries, it can be very difficult to identify which country the fish comes from. Try to buy your fish local – and wild caught if at all possible. When buying seaweeds, make sure you know where they came from. Maine is supposed to be a good place to source seaweed from.

Are you concerned about where your food comes from? How do you avoid eating potentially harmful food like this? I’d love to hear your thoughts on this, and on the Fukushima disaster, in the comments below.