primal pancakes

1 cup almond meal
2 tbsp. melted butter or coconut oil (I prefer butter)
1 egg (sometimes I use two eggs, either works)
1/2 tsp baking powder
pinch sea salt
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/4 cup milk, almond milk or coconut milk (continue to add milk to your own desired consistency, I usually just estimate the milk)

Preheat griddle - I like to use a cast iron fying pan. Melt a spoonful of coconut oil (you can decide how much oil you want to use) or butter in the pan and prepare pancakes as you would normally.

Serve pancakes with butter, fresh or thawed frozen berries, a nice dollup of whipping cream (I like to add a bit of ginger powder to my cream before I whip it for some added flavour), and if you are like me, a tiny little drizzle of maple syrup makes the meal complete.

This is one of my staple primal breakfasts. I think it tastes more like desert - its so delicious and you will notice how you stay full (ie you are not hungry in 20 minutes) after eating primal pancakes compared to traditional wheat pancakes.

A Spark People calculation puts this recipe (before adding berries and whipping cream) at 32 grams of fat, 10 grams carbohydrates, and 11 grams of protein. This is when it serves 3.

Primal Blueprint Menu Planning - making it work for our family

Groceries are in, time to plan the meals!

This is a pretty typical menu for our family - we have a few other staples like primal chili (no beans, lots of meat and some added vegetables), roasts (chicken, beef or pork), breakfast for supper. I try to keep the meals easy, affordable and adaptable - they also need to pass muster for my three very particular food critics. In other words -they need to be ultra kid friendly.

Breakfast
Sunday - Fruit & cottage cheese, a handful of nuts
Monday - Almond meal pancakes, mixed frozen berries, whipped cream (my own recipe, I will be posting it sometime over the course of the month)
Tuesday - Smoothie (berries, spinach, yogurt, 1 banana (a bit of a cheat carb wise, but needed in my opinion), and almond milk)
Wednesday - Fruit (berries or melon) & full fat plain yogurt
Thursday - Eggs (probably scrambled with grated cheese on top)
Friday - Bacon & Eggs
Saturday - Fruit & Yogurt

(often my kids will eat what I am having or they have toast or cereal for breakfast)

Lunch
Sunday - Spinach Salad (spinach greens, mushroom, boiled egg, bacon, red onion with a olive oil and balsamic vinegar dressing), boiled eggs & bacon for the kids
Monday - Mixed Veggie tray or big salad with side of tuna, soup and grilled cheese for the kids
Tuesday - I skip lunch on this day because I am at work - a bit of intermittent fasting
Wednesday - Big Salad, quesadillas for the kids
Thursday- Mixed Veggie tray or big salad
Friday - Mixed Veggie tray with leftovers from supper (meatloaf), kids get some crackers and cheese, meat, and fruit added to their trays

Supper
Sunday - Pork loin chops, sweet potato and veggies (thinking of trying this recipe)
Monday - Make your own pizza (this is for the kids) with Caesar salad (for mom & dad)
Tuesday - Perogies (for the kids), Sausage (found some organic beef nitrate free smokies) & vegetables with dip
Wednesday - Chicken Stir fry with some whole wheat egg noodles for the kids
Thursday - Meatloaf (without breadcrumbs or ketchup), mashed potato for the kids, big salad
Friday - Broccoli and Cheddar Soup (my children LOVE this, our recipe is NOT 100% primal or healthy)

Snacks
apples dipped in almond butter
raw almonds
beef jerky (for my partner, I think it tastes like dog treats and is not a favorite)
primal muffins
fair trade organic dark chocolate

Beverages
coffee with 1/2 and 1/2 cream - one cup a day
matcha green tea lattes (will post a thread with my instructions sometime this month)
tea tea and more tea
water


So, that's it in a nutshell.

Contest time!! I have a set of 2 organic muslin reusable tea bags that I'd like to give away. Post your favorite primal/paleo or low carb meals to the comments and I'll do a random.org drawing to pick the winner next Sunday. Don't forget to ensure that I have a way of contacting you if you win.

Primal Grocery List

Today is shopping day! Here is my primal list....

pork chops (try to find a good pastured source)
ground beef (grass fed)
chicken breast (again, pastured is best but I buy Costco frozen in the interest of being economical, this is a staple meal for us)
sausage (gluten free a must, nitrate free a bonus)
tuna (eat in limited amounts due to mercury content but great on salads)
cubed squash
organic chicken stock (making squash soup)
cheddar cheese
butter (a staple)
cottage cheese (great with berries and nuts for breakfast)
almonds (snacking, salads)
red pepper
feta cheese (greek salad, omelette, frittata)
cucumber
olives
baby tomatoes
spinach (salad and smoothies)
bacon (breakfast, salads)
olive oil
balsamic vinegar (salad dressing)
coconut oil (a staple)
mayonnaise (you could make your own, but I'm lazy)
snap peas (for snacking)
carrots (for snacking)
frozen berries (mmmm... on almond meal pancakes with whipped cream, smoothies)
almond milk (smoothies)
almond meal (baking)
eggs (a must have staple, get pastured eggs - even at $4 a dozen they are great value)
whipping cream (satisfy that sweet tooth with berries and whipped cream)
fresh berries in season
1/2 and 1/2 cream (for coffee and matcha green tea)
plain full fat yogurt (for smoothies and dips)
salad greens (lunch, every.single.day.)

Have anything to add? Don't forget your Joyful Earth produce bags!




Tomorrow look for my menu plan for the next week.

living a joyful life

Last summer I was introduced to the Primal Blueprint fitness and nutrition plan via the blog Marks Daily Apple. I had long been a follower of traditional foods/nutrition and the Primal Blueprint really spoke to me, it was MORE traditional than traditional! Think Paleolithic nutrition.. think GROK.

So - I started and it went amazingly well. I lost weight, I felt amazing, I even managed to lose that foggy mommy brain I had been battling for the last seven years. Then Halloween came, and the ugly sugar addiction reared itself again. Followed closely by Christmas and all those comfort foods that come with a cold Canadian winter.

Needless to say - I fell off the wagon a bit. But, I know I feel best when I cut the carbs (especially grains, my poor skin and gluten do not mix), and eat lots of grain fed protein (beef, chicken, pork, eggs & meat) and ensure I'm getting lots of good healthy fats like nuts, coconut oil, olive oil (the list goes on). Oh and we can't forget whipping cream (best when its raw!) and fair trade organic dark chocolate.

So, starting March 1st, I'm back on the Primal wagon. I'm going to be updating here, on facebook and wherever else I can keep myself accountable. I'd also encourage blog readers, facebook fans, friends and the like to join me for this 30 day challenge. And who better to explain what the 30 day challenge is than Mark Sisson himself. Post to the comments if you are "in" and what you'd like to see blogged about as the Primal 30 day challenge, Joyful Earth style, begins! (I'm thinking a blog about being ecologically responsible meat eaters is a start... might have to enlist some help with that one!)

exciting news!

Its been about a week - and they already feel like family! I'm so so very thrilled to announce that the outstanding group of artisans at Fresh have asked me to join their ranks! This is a huge honour for me, as I admire each and every vendor in that congo and count myself very lucky to be part of this group of pretty rockin' women!

My first stocking as an official member of Fresh is on March 9th. Check out some of the items currently available on the congo:

shop joyful earth.

The Cove will screen in Japan!

Any of you who have been reading this blog from day 1, know that the dolphins off the coast of Taiji have been of special interest to me. I wanted to share this news story as it hopefully signals the beginning of the end for the dolphin hunt in Japan. If you have not seen the documentary yet - make sure you rent it soon, its excellent.

The Cove Breaks Into Japan

Reusable tea bag winner announced!!

I'm very excited to announce that random.org has chosen Bonnie as the winner of the set of two reusable muslin tea bags. Congrats Bonnie!! Your tea bags will head out in the mail this week. Thanks to everyone for entering and telling me about your fave teas.