Alcohol on the Paleo diet: Good or Bad?

Is alcohol Paleo? Most people would say no, it's not. Though, fermented drinks have been traced back to the Neolithic time period so it's quite possible that the Paleolithic man did drink some type of fermented drink. Probably because, without refrigeration or preserving mechanisms, things will ferment on their own :)

But some alcohols are actually quite good for you in small doses. Red wine for example. It's high in antioxidants and has been proven to lower your risk for heart disease and prevent blood clotting (which can lead to strokes). Just like the saying goes, "an apple a day keeps the doctor away", a glass of red wine a day keeps death at bay. Not really :) But that would be cool! Wish I wasn't allergic to alcohol.

I know you're thinking, "what did she just say?!". Yep, totally allergic to alcohol. In the same way people are lactose intolerant, my body doesn't process ethanol. It's actually fairly common in Asians. My mother and brother both have the same condition. I have it to a lesser degree than both of them. I can have maybe 1/8 cup of wine or beer and be ok. Most days. If I'm tired or not feeling well to begin with, alcohol will exacerbate that. But I can cook with it because when you cook alcohol at a high temperature, you'll burn off the alcohol.

So here's a new recipe for you. I kinda took the Pioneer Woman's Steak Bites recipe and revamped it. I struggled with what to pair this recipe with. In the end, I decided on mashed cauliflower (potatoes for my dad, as he has not gotten on board with the whole Paleo thing and won't eat mashed cauliflower!) but I considered noodles. I think egg noodles would be good with this if you're not eating gluten free. Or quinoa pasta if you are.

Meal total: For steak bites, $4.85. I added peas and mashed cauliflower which adds $2 to the meal. $6.85 total

P.S. I just remembered that peas are not strictly Paleo either. Oh well, I already ate them :) But if you're wanting a truly Paleo meal, try come carrots or green beans instead. But might I add, those peas (Green Giant's select baby peas) were probably the best peas I have ever eaten! They fairly exploded in my mouth! They weren't mealy or mushy at all! Maybe that was due to my extraordinary "cooking" skills. And by cooking, I mean boiling them in the microwave. Probably not.

Steak Bites in a Red Wine Reduction

1-2 lbs sirloin steak, cut into cubes
4 T butter
1/2 cup red wine
1/2 cup chopped shallots
2 cloves garlic
2 T honey
1/2 cup beef broth
Fresh parsley
Salt and Pepper, to taste

-Heat a large skillet on high. Add butter and heat it till it's slightly browned
-Add cubed sirloin to butter and sear until nicely carmelized on one side. Flip bites over and sear again, maybe 3-4 minutes. Cook these on high so that they brown quickly without fully cooking the insides. That's the secret to cooking sirloin. Don't overcook sirloin or it'll be chewy.
- Remove meat to a bowl.
-Add more butter to pan if necessary and saute garlic and shallots together till translucent.
-Pour wine into pan to deglaze the pan. Cook for a few minutes.
-Add broth and honey to pan and cook on high for several minutes until sauce starts to reduce. Add meat back in and serve immediately.

Thai Meatballs and my run-on thoughts...

I love to write. My English Comp 2 teacher often complimented me, saying my rhetoric was fantastic. I thank my momma for that talent :) I can easily whip out a paper in an hour or two. Now if only I had the same gift for Organic Chemistry. There are many days where I've sat on my couch or at the dining room table ALL DAY doing homework. And I'm not exaggerating. 8-9 hours to finish one assignment. Thank God Almighty I'm done with those classes!

But although I love to write, sometimes blogging is hard for me. I go in waves, usually, where the words just flow out of me and I have lots to say and know exactly how to express my thoughts and ideas. I can be very opinionated about topics I'm passionate about. Like I was talking about earlier, my English comp 2 class was all about persuasion writing. And oh boy, I could go on and on in an essay. You'll never get me to admit defeat about certain topics. One of those topics is nutrition. Especially in schools and low income.

I've battled my weight for many years. Really, ever since puberty. My hormones have never been balanced. I was diagnosed with probable PCOS at age 16, which was confirmed when I developed two large cysts on my ovaries 3 years ago. I have almost every symptom now of PCOS. My doctors wanted to put me on 4 different medications but I balked at that. Who wants to be on a slew of medications at age 27? But battling this through diet and exercise is exceedingly hard. I don't eat a ton. I've never been the one to finish off an entire pizza or half a chocolate cake in one sitting. I've always been a normal eater. I eat my fruits and veggies. I love brown rice, maybe even more than white. I grew up with a mom who cooked everything from scratch. Many of you can attest to that. I didn't know what a store bought cookie tasted like till I was 6. My mom still tells the story of how I came home from a friend's house complaining about the awful "cookies" her mom served. Turns out it was an Oreo. And my grandmother regularly tells the story of me asking her if various things had "shuga" in them, since I wasn't allowed to eat much sugar in those days.

But the pounds have determinedly stuck with me. The only thing that seems to work for me is sticking to a Paleo diet. In essence, it's a very low sugar diet. And not just what you'd normally think of as "sugar". Carbohydrates are sugar to the body. Your body breaks down carbs into sugars called monosaccharides. That means flour, potatoes, and corn are all out. These are also the most common GMO foods as well. But that's a different conversation. Back to the Paleo diet.

I don't like everything about the Paleo diet. Some of it is unnecessary, at least for me. But I read in a couple different places that the Paleo diet is a rubric. It's a list of general guidelines and I think, for the most part, those guidelines are solid. Take the basic premise of the Paleo diet and build off of it. No one's body is exactly the same. What works for one person, won't work for another. What your body can tolerate isn't necessarily what mine can. My body processes milk just fine but my mom does not. For us, we eat some lentils and garbanzo beans (we don't really like any other form of bean), some dairy, and some brown rice. None of those are on the traditional Paleo diet but it works for us. I spent about 6 weeks on the strictest form of Paleo doing the 21 day sugar detox (find it here) and then adding different things afterwards to see what worked best for my body.

So that's where I'm at now. I'm down about 25 lbs from where I started in February. I'm not perfect and I cheat from time to time (pasta is my downfall, and popcorn too!). I still have a long ways to go but I'm trying to establish a firm foundation. It's a journey that needs to last a lifetime.

So here's a new Paleo recipe for you! Hope you like them as much as we did! I didn't tally how much this meal cost very well. I'd say maybe $6? The pork cost $2.25/lb, the coconut milk cost $1.40 for the can, the almond butter maybe I used $.50 worth? Those were the most expensive of the ingredients. All the spices I already had in the house. The zucchini and carrots cost me less than $1 and I only used part of what I bought.

Thai Meatballs (Adapted from PaleOMG)

Meatballs
- 1 zucchini, minced (I did this in the food processor)
- 2 carrots, minced
- 1 pound pork
- 1/2 pound ground beef or turkey (or omit altogether, I did)
- 1 T freshly grated ginger
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 T curry powder
- salt and pepper, to tast

Sauce
- 1 (14 oz) can coconut milk
- 1/4 cup almond butter
- 1 T soy sauce or coconut aminos
- 1 T sriracha sauce, hot sauce, or red pepper
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 2 T honey
- 2 T curry powder

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Place zucchini and carrots in food processor and mince till fine. Remove from processor and squeeze out as much excess water as you're able to.

3. Combine zucchini, carrots, meat, and the rest of the meatball ingredients listed in a bowl and mix together.

4. Shape into 1/4 cup sized meatballs and place on a cookie sheet.

5. Bake in oven for 15-18 minutes until thoroughly cooked. 

While meatballs are cooking...

1. Place all sauce ingredients in a saucepan and heat through. 

2. Once meatballs are done, add them to sauce and serve. Garnish with scallion, cilantro, or parsley as desired.

A deviation: Indian Dhal

Well, I lied. This next recipe in the line of $8 or less dinners is NOT Paleo. The Paleolithic diet doesn't approve of legumes, saying they're high in phytic acid and Lectin, which damage the small intestine and prohibit proper nutrient uptake. Though, I've read mixed opinions on that and I honestly think that's a load of crap. Unless you're actually allergic to legumes (it's 2nd most common food allergy), then that's a different story. This is definitely a clean eating recipe, though. And it's low in fat, salt, and calories. I calculated this recipe at 197 calories a serving. Add a nice salad or veggie and some brown rice, you're still under 500 calories for a hearty dinner!

Dhal is a popular Indian dish. I make lots of Indian recipes. It's probably my favorite ethnic food. This recipe is super easy and quick to make. And cheap. WAY cheap. Probably won't get much cheaper than this recipe! A 1 lb bag of lentils at Walmart is $1.25 here. Though I can get them way cheaper than that when they go on sale at Sprouts. They'll go $.69 a lb there a couple times a year. Feel free to substitute split peas instead. They taste the same to me. I used red lentils this time but green lentils are fine too!

I love the smell of garlic and onions cooking. It's probably the Italian in me that says it's the best food combination ever created! My best friend growing up hated onions! I still don't think she loves them. I never understood that. But then again, she would probably say the same thing about my aversion to mushrooms. We would always trade when we were little. I'd eat her onions and she would eat my mushrooms. Ok, maybe we still do that!

This dish isn't that pretty by itself. It actually took me a little while to figure out how to make it look appealing for pictures :) I rummaged through my cabinets a bit to find a pretty bowl. This bowl I bought in Cozumel last spring break! This is the first time I've used it. Nice, huh?

Dhal (I calculate it cost me less than $3 to make this. Add in brown rice and bagged salad mix, it's a meal for 3 for $4.25!)

1 onion, diced
2-3 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 tsp. ground turmeric
1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp finely grated fresh ginger or 1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground cardamom (optional, I don't think this adds a lot to the recipe)
2 T olive oil

1 cup dried lentils
3 cups hot water
1 tsp salt

Fry onion and spices in olive oil until golden brown. Add lentils, water, and salt. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, until lentils are tender (about 30 minutes). Remove cover and simmer another 20 minutes until lentils are mushy, like the consistency of refried beans. If you'd like, use an immersion blender to puree to smooth into a sauce. Garnish with onions or lemon juice. Serve hot over rice.