Paleo Cauliflower "Rice"

Since Christmas I've been eating and preparing paleo meals (check out this post to catch up on my paleo adventure). Generally it's not too different from how we already eat, and Chris even confessed he hasn't felt deprived of anything. However, I've had to learn a few paleo hacks, if you will, to make up for some previous staples. RICE. We ate rice all the time! It was our go to grain, cheap and easy. But rice isn't a option anymore. So, now what do we eat with our stir frys and curries?

Cauliflower "rice"!

Paleo Grain-Free Granola

Why would I want to make grain-free granola?

Around Christmas time, way back when in December, I found myself on a paleo food blog. I knew the gist of the paleo "diet", but this blog had me consumed. Look at all of these wonderful things to eat! This doesn't look like a diet at all. And in fact, paleo folks don't call it a diet but rather a lifestyle. And as I read the science behind it, it started making sense. Enough sense that I decided to try it out. So here's the short and fast version...

Your body isn't designed to efficiently use a lot of the food we put in it; grains, sugars, most dairy, legumes, and chemically processed stuff. And evidence of that can be found in obesity, diabetes, peanut allergies, gluten allergies, and lactose intolerance (pretty common stuff, eh?). Instead you should model your diet more like that of our lean and muscular ancestors (cavemen). Eat meat, seafood, lots of vegetables, some fruits, nuts and seeds. Done.

After my varsity athlete days in high school, I learned quickly that my adult body's metabolism wasn't going to keep up with my eating habits. And honestly, since then it's been a bit of a struggle to keep my weight down. I've ate a loose paleo diet from Christmas to January and steadily lost 12 pounds. Even better, I have more energy, and I didn't feel hungry all the time. I felt so good I wanted to give the Whole30 challenge a go, and Emily joined in too! I'm days away from day 30 and I feel, dare I say, awesome.

I'm still no expert on it. But here are some people that are...
Nom Nom Paleo
Eat Drink Paleo
The Healthy Foodie
The Clothes Make The Girl

This fantastic granola came from Irey's kitchen at Eat Drink Paleo.

February Hibernation

Sorry, February, but I've never been a fan.

I've started to call this time of year my February hibernation, or slump, or depression. The joy and the shine of the holiday season is long past, and Spring seems too far off to be hopeful. The weather is usually crap, and this year was no exception. The Philadelphia area got hit especially hard with snow, and ice, and sleet, making it difficult to get on with the daily routine. The chickens are literally cooped up, the dogs are rammy because they're not getting their ya-yas out running around outside, and speaking of ya-yas I don't think I'm getting mine out either. Harumpf. I tell myself every year, "Jackie, you should schedule lots of fun things to do for that time and it'll go by so much faster! Great idea, Past Jackie, but Present Jackie isn't buying it.

Now that I think of it, February is more like my molting period. Chickens go through a yearly molt where they stop laying eggs, loose a bunch of feathers, okay a lot of feathers, and generally look miserable. I think the end of winter is like that for me. I'm not too creatively inspired, and it's a time to hole up and just be unproductive for awhile because Spring will arrive soon enough with plenty to do!

Today, I felt like I was getting my mojo back, or to keep with the molting analogy my feathers have grown in and I've laid my first egg in awhile. I even felt like writing this post, and updating an old one. Hopefully crabby Jackie is ready to get on with the year. We'll see.

Homemade Whiskey Beef Jerky

I have a confession. I love jerky. There's something about a dried piece of salty meat that I find so satisfying as a snack. But as much as I love it, I rarely buy it except on the rare festival or camping trip, where it's dried nature actually fulfills it's purpose. I came across this recipe for homemade jerky and I gathered my supplies to make it the same day. Whiskey infused jerky.

Because I also like to eat my alcohol.