Barbecued Kangaroo with Strawberry Sauce & a Cube of Chips paleo diet recipe-min

Barbecued Kangaroo with Strawberry Sauce & a Cube of Chips

I love Kangaroo.  Living in Australia it is a really cheap meat – and as kangaroos aren't farmed I know I'm getting good meat.

Kangaroo goes really well with plum sauce.  Unfortunately however the stone fruit season doesn't start for another month or two here, so I had to improvise for lunch today!  I had lots of frozen strawberries so made a strawberry sauce which went really well with the Roo!

I love sweet potatoes so used them to make big chunky sweet potato chips, which I stacked like a game of Jenga.

Barbecued Kangaroo with Strawberry Sauce & a Cube of Chips
Recipe type: Dinner
Cuisine: Australian
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Ingredients
  • Two small onions, diced
  • 200g organic tomato paste
  • 200g frozen strawberries
  • pinch of mustard powder
  • pinch of cayenne pepper
  • Spoon of coconut oil
  • For the Chip Cube:
  • One large sweet potato
  • Salt (I use pink himalayan crystal salt)
  • oregano
  • EVOO
  • And of course, Kangaroo
Instructions
  1. Saute the onion in coconut oil and added the tomato purée, after a few minutes, with a couple of tablespoons of water.
  2. Add in the mustard and pepper and let it simmer for a few minutes.
  3. Add the strawberries and allowed it to simmer for about ten minutes.
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  5. Cut the sweet potato into 18 equally sized lengths and arranged them on an over tray.
  6. Drizzle some EVOO on the chips and some salt and oregano before putting it in the oven at 200 degrees. Cook for about 20 minutes, turning halfway through.
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  8. Once the sauce cools, put it in the blender until it reaches a nice consistency.
  9. Barbecue the Kangaroo very simply, I try to do Kangaroo rare.
  10. Once everything is cooked Iassemble the cube using three layers of three sweet potato chips.
  11. Add a couple of spoonfuls of sauce to the kangaroo and serve!
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The sweetness of the sauce was a great compliment to the Kangaroo.

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Not in Australia?  I believe Kangaroo meat is available in some exotic meat stores around the World.  I'd love to hear what you think of this recipe, and if you have any top Kangaroo dishes – let me know in the comments below!

Barbecued Kangaroo with Strawberry Sauce & a Cube of Chips paleo diet recipe-min

The Great Aussie Meat Pie paleo diet primal recipe pastry grain-free gluten free-min

The Great Aussie Meat Pie – Paleo Style

Australians love their meat pies, apparently 260 million a year are eaten here.  For a county with a population of just over 21 million, that’s a lot of pies!

A meat pie just wouldn’t be the same without some sort of pastry.  So I thought it was time to give the Paleo treatment to the Aussie Meat Pie.

The Great Aussie Meat Pie – Paleo Style
Recipe type: Beef
Cuisine: Australian
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Ingredients
  • For the Crust:
  • the_great_paleo_aussie_meat_pie-min
  • 400g Almond Meal
  • 4 Eggs (free range, organic, obviously)
  • 1 Tablespoon Coconut Oil
  • Pinch of salt, onion powder, garlic powder & any other herbs you fancy
  • For the Filling:
  • 500g minced beef (I always try to get grass fed)
  • Approx 500ml Beef Stock (I made this a few weeks ago with lots of bones, and froze lots of batches)
  • 1 red onion (only because I’d run out of brown onions), diced
  • Half a sweet potato, diced
  • 1 carrot, diced
  • 4 mushrooms
  • Pinch of garlic powder, salt, oregano & any other herbs you select
Instructions
  1. Mix the crust ingredients together to form a big ball of dough
  2. Roll the "pastry" out and form into paper cupcake cases, reserving about a third of the dough mixture for the lids. You should be able to make about eight individual pie cases, more if you roll it out a bit thinner.
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  4. Cook these for ten minutes at 200 until they became hard, but not golden.
  5. Ssauté the onion in a spoonful of coconut oil, and add the minced beef after a couple of minutes. Once browned off, add the sweet potatoes and carrots and let that cook for a few minutes.
  6. Add the stock, mushrooms, seasoning and herbs and let it simmer for 15 minutes or so, until it had a good “pie” consistency.
  7. Take the filling off the heat and spooned it into the pie cases.
  8. Once filled to the top, roll out the remaining dough and cut it into lid shapes to match the cases.
  9. Put lids on all of the pies, forming a seal around the edges.
  10. Return the pies to the oven for another ten minutes, until they started to turn golden.
  11. the_great_paleo_aussie_meat_pie_finished-min

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I then took the meat pies along to a picnic in the sunshine this afternoon.  I didn't even need to tell my non-paleo friends I hadn't used conventional ingredients – they got fantastic reviews, despite having only good ingredients!

Have you given the Paleo treatment to any Australian or New Zealand dishes?

The Great Aussie Meat Pie paleo diet primal recipe pastry grain-free gluten free-min

Sydney Marathon running paleo perspective diet healthy grain-free no sugar

The Sydney Marathon – A Paleo Perspective

As I've mentioned before, my Marathon running house-mate is currently doing the Whole30 Paleo challenge with me.  We’re on day 26, and it’s going fantastically, but I’ll tell you more about that in a future post.

My house-mate is a marathon runner, so I've been particularly interested to see how Paleo affects his running performance and recovery.  So far, it seems to have made an incredible difference.  10 days ago he did his long practice run and was aiming for 30km (18.6 miles).  The run was going so well, he had so much energy, the sun was shining – so he just kept on running!  He got home to find out he’d run 42km (26.09 miles); just a few paces shy of a marathon!  Tomorrow however, is a different ball game.  Tomorrow is the race, the Sydney marathon.  He’s going for a really good time.  And he’s doing it Paleo.  I can’t wait to see how he does and how he feels and performs as a Paleo Marathon runner.  I’ll keep you posted!

I was interested to see the contents of the Marathon pack.  Which foods would the marathon organisers give away to their competitors, to give them good race nutrition?  Chia Seeds, a “Smooze” fruit ice (unfrozen) and a “Trio” bar.    I guess it could have been a lot worse, but, is this really the best things for a marathoner to be eating?

Marathon snack pack

Chia Seeds are everywhere at the moment and being promoted as a super-food.  Whilst they do provide Omega 3, it’s in plant form, which isn't so ready for human absorption – and they also contain a not so good amount of Omega 6.  The amount of protein contained is minimal – it would take considerably more than an 8g packed to give a decent protein supply.  So, whilst they certainly aren't the worst thing a marathoner could eat, I think this is probably the best use for them.

The “Smooze” (unfrozen) frozen fruit ice contains: pink guava juice 47% (from purée), coconut milk 40%, natural cane sugar, fruit pectin, citric acid, natural fruit flavours, ascorbic acid (vitamin C).  I'm pleased to see the coconut milk, though after my own investigation into coconut milk, can only hope they use a pure brand.  The juice element is just sugar, which isn't so good.  Also, after reading the Food Renegade’s awesome post on Orange Juice, I've been really wary of juices and “natural” flavours.

I was surprised the “Trio” bar ingredients weren't as bad as I was expecting: Cashew, Almonds, Pistachios, Blueberries, Sesame Seeds, Sunflower Seeds, Pumpkin Seeds, Dates, Raisins, Rice Malt, Natural Flavours, Evaporated Cane Juice and Sea Salt.  It’s a shame they had to add the rice malt, “natural flavours” and sugar (though doesn't evaporated cane juice sound so much better!).  I can’t think why you’d need to add flavours to so many wonderful tasting foods?

With some fantastic Paleo sports inspiration, dinner tonight came with sweet potato, a great Paleo Carb source.

Fingers crossed for a great Sydney Marathon day tomorrow!

Do you combine endurance with Paleo?  I'd love to hear how it works for you.

Sydney Marathon running paleo perspective diet healthy grain-free no sugar

Finding a Paleo Lunch in the City food court ideas diet healthy

Finding a Paleo Lunch in the City

I always have good intentions of bringing a Paleo Lunch in to work with me.  When I do, lunch is great.  I take in leftovers from the previous evening, and reheat them at work.  Or I take in slices of meat that I roasted at home and eat it with vegetables.  But, there are often times when I don’t get round to making my lunch – or even more annoying, leave my lunch at home!  I often catch up with friends over lunch – another occasion when I venture away from home cooking and towards the food courts.

I work in Sydney CBD, so there are literally hundreds of food outlets within minutes of my office.  The choices however, often leave a lot to be desired, sadly they're are many that are not what I would class a Paleo Lunch!  There are the usual fast food joints like McDonalds , Hungry Jacks (Burger King to the rest of the world), Oportos (Australia fast food chain specialising in chicken burgers) & KFC.  Then there are Mexican chains like Mad Mex and Guzman y Gomez.  There are pancake outlets, salad outlets, fruit juice outlets, Thai, Chinese, Japanese… the list goes on.  There is a wholefoods chain, Iku, in Sydney, which should be amazing, but sadly they seem to have a vegan agenda – most of their foods contain grains and legumes – and soy seems to be commonly used.

Finding a Paleo Lunch in the City food court ideas diet healthy

Most of these options are strictly off limits for me, as they just aren't Paleo!  Whilst the Mexican chains seem to use wonderful fresh ingredients, most options also include tortilla, beans, cheese and rice (grains, legumes and dairy!).  Most lunch options in the city seem to serve grains, legumes and dairy.  I'm also very mindful of the fact that these outlets don’t care about our health – they just want maximum profits, so are likely to use ingredients that I won’t – to improve the taste of their products to keep us going back.  I can’t imagine a single outlet uses coconut oil or grass fed, organic meat!  Whilst salads are a safe option, I find they tend to bulk them out with lettuce and meat is often in very small quantities; not good value for money and certainly not satiating.

The best option I've found so far, is from one of the many outlets offering roast dinner.  I often have roast beef (or pork or chicken) with a serving of seasonal roasted vegetables.

Finding a paleo lunch in the city-min

I've also found a few good places that will let me get creative and go “off menu”.  For example, last week I met a friend for lunch and found an organic burger joint, who were able to arrange a burger with no bun, sauces or fries.  Instead they served the burger with bacon and an egg – result!

Recently I've been trying to have brunch instead of lunch.  This means I can get bacon, eggs and avocado; a much better option!

Finding a paleo lunch in the city brunch-min

Until there’s a Paleo food outlet in every major city, I’d love to hear what your Paleo choices are for a city lunch?

Kangaroo meat paleo australia-min

It Doesn’t Get Much More Paleo Than Kangaroo…

I've started to eat Kangaroo regularly since I began my paleo lifestyle.  Since Kangaroos aren't farmed in Australia, I know I'm getting free range meat from animals that have been eating a natural diet.  Also, in Australia at least, Kangaroo meat is a cheap very accessible meat – which is a great help in offsetting the cost of more expensive free range meats.

Kangaroo meat paleo australia-min

Fillet cuts of Kangaroo are widely available in Coles and Woolworths as well as local butchers.  Loin and rump cuts are also stocked in some places.  Whilst there are many pre-marinated and processed kangaroo products available too – avoid those and make your own!

Why Kangaroo?

Kangaroo is lean & rich in protein, making it a great protein component of a paleo meal.

For a quick and easy Aussie Kangaroo dinner, make some plum sauce using 4 fresh large plums, remove the pits and add to a blender with 2 garlic cloves, a chunk of fresh ginger, a squeeze of lemon, the juice of an orange and a sprinkling of onion powder, nutmeg, mustard and pepper.  Once blended transfer to a saucepan, bring to the boil and simmer for a few minutes.  Meanwhile barbeque your kangaroo to medium-rare perfection, then serve with your delicious home-made plum sauce.

Look out for more Paleo Kangaroo inspired dishes in the coming weeks.  Have a great Kangaroo recipe?  Tell us about it!

And if you aren't in Australia but want to try some Kangaroo?  You should be able to find some frozen and vacuum sealed – look for an exotic meat dealer, or speak to your local butcher.  Many companies export Kangaroo to New Zealand, so options there should be a lot more plentiful.

Grass fed beef in Australia and New Zealand-min

Grass Fed Beef In Australia & New Zealand?

I was talking to an Australian Doctor at the Ancestral Health Symposium about finding grass fed meat in Australia. He was explaining to me that Australian meat is almost all grass fed, unlike America where grass fed meat is a lot harder to come by.

Grass fed beef has a far better omega 6:omega 3 ratio and far more vitamins & minerals than grain fed beef.

Since I got back I've been trying to find out if more about beef quality and availability. Until I make friends with a farmer, if I could be certain I was buying grass fed meat, I’d be very happy!

It seems that grass fed beef is dependent on the season; meaning springtime meat is more grain than grass fed.

On their website Coles state: –

Coles source both grass and grain fed cattle depending on seasonal quality. When rains are good, cattle are fed on grass. Being high in beta carotene, this is transferred to the meat and is why the fat is cream in colour. During drier times, grass is substituted with grain feed, and the fat has a whiter appearance. We offer both grass and grain fed cattle depending on the seasonal conditions to source the best quality available.

Woolworths doesn't go into much detail on their site, so I wrote to them, and have just received this reply: –

Woolworths has a number of different types of beef on offer. Our Riverine and standard Woolworths beef range are from grain fed animals, our market value and Macro branded beef come from grass fed animals. We are currently in the process of working on new labels and stickers which will help customers to be able to identify the difference between our beef range. You will notice these changes over the coming months.

So, whilst I’ll always strive to source my meat from a farmers market, or a good local butcher, it’s nice to know at a pinch there are some reasonable options in the supermarkets. If their new labelling enables me to see exactly what type of meat I'm eating, then that will be even better.

Where do you get your meat from? If you've found a good source of grass fed meat in Australia or New Zealand, share it in the comments.

Grass fed beef in Australia and New Zealand-min

The-Easiest-Strawberry-Coconut-Ice-Cream-Ever-recipe-paleo-dairy-free-min

The Easiest Strawberry & Coconut Ice Cream Ever!

It’s been a lovely sunny weekend – and what better way to end a Sunday than with ice cream?

 

5.0 from 1 reviews
The Easiest Strawberry & Coconut Ice Cream Ever!
Recipe type: Desserts
Prep time: 
Total time: 
Ingredients
Instructions
  1. It takes just a couple of minutes to prepare this ice cream.
  2. Throw a couple of handfuls of frozen strawberries into the blender and add a whole tin of coconut cream.
  3. Blend the mixture, leaving a few small pieces of strawberries intact.
  4. Pour the mixture into a dish, sprinkle with shredded coconut and put in the freezer for a couple of hours.
  5. How easy is that?

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I don’t think this needs any extra sweetness, as the strawberries are sweet enough.  This ice cream has the same texture as a shop-bought ice cream, yet it won’t cause the same spike in blood sugar levels.

The-Easiest-Strawberry-Coconut-Ice-Cream-Ever-recipe-paleo-dairy-free-min

Why you should swap oatmeal for noatmeal porridge granola paleo network-min

Why You Should Swap Your Oatmeal for NoOatmeal

Before I knew anything about Paleo, I’d often make up Oatmeal for breakfast. Especially in the winter, I felt it was the epitome of healthy breakfasts. Now however, I’ve gained a much better understanding about nutrition, so I thought I’d share my reasons for complete avoidance of Oatmeal.

Why you should swap oatmeal for noatmeal porridge granola paleo network-min

There is something comforting about Oatmeal, particularly on a cold morning. However, NoOatmeal is a far better alternative. NoOatmeal is made using raw nuts & pepitas which you grind in your blender. You then lightly toast the nuts in a saucepan, with some cinnamon. Then you add coconut milk and an egg and stir until ready. How easy is that? Like Oatmeal, it is warm, but unlike Oatmeal I find it far more filling – and I know the ingredients are far better for me. The smell when the nuts are toasting is fantastic! I also like the fact that alone and unprepared I could eat & enjoy the individual ingredients in Noatmeal. Have you ever tried eating raw, unprepared Oats? Not so nice.

So, what’s not great about Oats?

When you eat Oats, they breakdown to glucose which causes an insulin spike in your blood – if you test your blood glucose an hour after eating Oatmeal, you’ll see a big increase (perhaps as high as 140). Regularly allowing your blood sugar levels to increase like is very damaging to your body (and can also lead to conditions like diabetes). Also soon after the spike in blood sugars, there will be a crash – which is the reason you’ll be hungry soon after eating Oatmeal. Nuts and eggs will keep your blood sugar levels constant, which is a far healthier state.

As well as the sugar issues, Oats contain high levels of lectins and phytic acid which are components that can cause intestinal imbalances and block nutrient absorption. Oats also have a high Omega 6 ratio, which in itself is very damaging. Some brands of Oatmeal also contain traces of gluten grains, which are very intolerable to a lot of people.

Whilst you can reduce the lectin and phytic acid content of oats by fermenting them – why not just make yourself some NoOatmeal instead? I tend to have NoOatmeal perhaps once a week, having saved myself time by preparing the ingredients the night before. Other typical breakfasts are scrambled eggs, omelettes, bacon and eggs – and often just last night’s dinner leftovers! Who said breakfast has to be traditional?

Have you tried NoOatmeal? Do you still eat Oatmeal? Add your comment below

Whole 30 paleo network sq-min

Whole 30 – Halfway Through

If you follow me on Twitter you’ll have seen that I'm currently in the middle (day 18, to be precise) of a Whole30.

Whole 30 paleo network-min

So, what is a Whole30?

The Whole 30 is a strict 30 day Paleo program, which is designed to remove all inflammation causing foods for a 30 day period.  This is very much in line with the 30-day trial Robb Wolf suggests.  At the end of the 30-days the idea is to evaluate how you look, feel and perform – compared to how you looked, felt and performed on day -1.  You can then slowly start to reintroduce other foods, if you wish to do so, to gain a better understanding of how your body reacts to specific foods.  In the 30-day program you eat good quality, lean meat, fish, eggs, seasonal fruit & vegetables as well as fat sources such as coconut oil, avocado, nuts and seeds.  Strictly off limits are dairy, grains, legumes – and of course all processed foods and alcohol.

How to go about it?

The weekend before I started my 30-days, I got organised.  I went through hundreds of recipes and gave them the Whole30 treatment.  There are differing degrees of Paleoness, meaning some recipes have dairy and sweeteners which aren’t allowed for this period.  Once I had a collection of recipes for meals and snacks selected, I then went through the ingredients, one by one and compiled a huge shopping list – right down to the herbs and spices I didn’t already have.  I assigned meals for the week ahead and bought everything I’d need.  I can’t stress enough how much easier this made it!

What is a typical day’s menu?

Take today for example.  Breakfast was (organic) bacon & (omega 3 enriched organic) eggs cooked in coconut oil.  Lunch was a small bowl of leftover chicken curry cooked in coconut milk – and dinner today will be the slow cooked lamb that I hope is currently cooking itself in my slow cooker at home!  Probably under 20 minutes of cooking & preparation time required today for three completely different meals.

The verdict so far?

I’d been about 90% Paleo before this recent Whole30 for a long time, so the biggest change for me has been cutting out dairy.  Not having to make huge dietary changes has meant I haven’t had “carb flu” which a lot of people seem to go through.  It has made me realise I just don’t need the dairy!  Before starting, I’d been convinced I’d go back onto dairy once the 30-days were up.  Now however, I just can’t see why I’d do that.  Dairy gave me no nutritional benefit that I don’t get elsewhere in my diet, and I’m become increasingly convinced that dairy and I might not be so compatible.  I’m always in a happy mood, but this has definitely been turned up a notch in the last 18 days.  I’m also feeling a lot less tired – and for the first time since I can remember I’ve started to wake up before my alarm clock!  This seems to have kick started my sleeping patterns too, as I’m now actually tired at bedtime.  Win win!  I’ll report back on my progress at the end of the 30 days, but more interestingly my housemate who has been doing this Whole30 with me, from a completely different way of eating!

Are you doing a Whole30 too?  I’d love to hear about your thoughts and experiences below

What's In Your Coconut Milk Ingrediants-min

Fancy a Serve of Polyoxethylene Sorbitan Monostearate With Your Coconut Milk?

Following on from yesterdays post on Coconut Milk & Coconut Cream, I’ve found out a few things about those added ingredients.  Seemingly innocuous names such as E435 hide chemicals I quite simply would rather not consume.  I’ll take the coconut milk with the huge layer of cream on top, thanks.

What's In Your Coconut Milk Ingrediants-min

Stabilizer E466 (or just 466):  Also known as Carboxymethyl Cellulose

This is used as a thicking agent, a filler, anti clumping agent and an emulsifier.  As well as its use in food, Carboxymethyl Cellulose is also used in ceramics, detergents & textiles.  It is derived from cellulose (as found in wood & plant structures) which is chemically modified.  It isn't possible to find out the source directly, but it could come from genetically engineered cotton plants.

Vegetable gum (412) or Emulsifier, E412:  More commonly known as Guar gum

Guar Gum is often added as a thickener to avoid the contents of the tin separating.  Guar Gum is made from the seed of the Cyamopsis tetragonoloba shrub, which is a legume  The seeds are dehusked, milled & screened to produce an off white powder. I think I’d rather deal with the natural separation of the coconut milk.

Emulsifier E435:  Also known as Polyoxethylene sorbitan monostearate, Polysorbate 60, or Tween 60
This chemical compound is created from ethylene oxide (a synthetic compound), sorbitol and palmitic acid.  One of the main issues appears to be that the origin of these components is not easy to find out, but may be include “vegetable” oils.   I’ve not been able to find any relevant studies, but there are lots of mentions of cancer when discussing this additive.

Thickener E415, also known as Xanthin gum

This thickener is created from fermenting corn sugar with a bacterium.  It may also use wheat, dairy or soy.  As with all of these additives it is very hard to determine exactly how the chemical was derived.

Do you know more about these additives?  Are you happy to consume a small amount of these additives to get coconut milk into your diet?  Let me know in the comments below.