Click here to listen or find us on iTunes. Please submit your questions to paleopodcast@gmail.com and if you have a spare minute, please be sure to leave us a review on iTunes!!  Thank you very much and enjoy!

Kelly Starrett joins us today!!  Check out his awesome new best selling book, Becoming a Supple Leopard, and his amazing site that I don’t know how we ever lived without, mobilitywod.com.

Paleo Lifestyle and Fitness Podcast, Episode 38 is a post from Everyday Paleo - licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License

THE CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED!  WINNERS WILL BE NOTIFIED SHORTLY. THANK YOU EVERYONE FOR PARTICIPATING!

Everyday Paleo Around the World: Italian Cuisine is almost here. Crazy!!! It’s May, which means that according to my calculations, July 23rd will arrive in approximately five minutes, or at least I know it will feel that way!!  Final details are just about wrapped up and the book will soon be off to print and that has given me a bit of time to squeeze in a GIVEAWAY (or two) in honor of your dedication and patience as I know you all have been depressed and saddened that this book is not yet in your hands!!!

Ok, all joking aside; I’m going to offer you  a sneak peak recipe from the highly anticipated Everyday Paleo Around the World Italian Cuisine! I’ll also share a few other glimpses into the book in which I literally take you around Italy right along with us!

Pictured above is the POSSIBLE new cover – if not this one it will be very similar and however it turns out ultimately I’m very happy with this design. It embodies the love, intimacy, and vibrancy that literally was our trip to Italy.

For those of you wondering what this book is all about; here’s the description you will find on the back cover!

“Part travelogue, part lifestyle guide, this is not just another Italian cookbook. In
Everyday Paleo Around the World: Italian Cuisine, Sarah has perfected the art of
Italian cooking for the Paleo or gluten-free family—all 100 amazingly delicious,
truly authentic recipes are grain-, dairy-, and legume-free.
The recipes are drawn from Sarah’s travels throughout Italy, where she spent
time learning from—and cooking with—top chefs, home cooks, and local farmers.
Because of the variety of her experiences, she has much more to share than just
recipes. Everyday Paleo Around the World: Italian Cuisine provides an intimate
look into the lives of the Italian people and their unique food-centered culture.
Immerse yourself in the simple pleasure of eating what’s in season and often
growing right outside the doorstep, grazing in the fields, or swimming in the sea
nearby. Discover the value of slowing down and savoring the whole process,
from the initial gathering of the ingredients to enjoying the people around the
table as much as the food on your plate. This sensibility is what makes Everyday
Paleo Around the World not just a cookbook, but a perspective-shifting gem,
sure to inspire great dinners and dinner conversation!
As an added bonus, Sarah shares tips for anyone planning a trip to Italy: learn
the best ways to navigate the country and stay Paleo and gluten-free during your
travels. Grab your passport, pack your suitcase, and join the Fragoso family on a
mouth-watering Paleo adventure in Italy!”

As I mentioned earlier in the post, I have some tantalizing giveaways to offer as a thank you and a celebration of the “It’s Almost Here Moment” and I promise you there is much more to come!  After the sneak peak recipe of Lamb with Aromatic Herbs and other snapshots of the book; you will find all the important giveaway information so be sure to scroll down to the bottom of the post for the JUICY details!!!

This recipe is one of my personal favorites in the book and classically rustic Italian.

Besides several delicious Italian meat dishes you will find An Entire Pizza Section, An Entire Section dedicated to Sauces, Sides, and First Courses, Desserts like Panna Cotta and Tiramisu and LASAGNA with a Bechamel Sauce that literally has changed my life for the better!!

Here’s a few more glimpses of what’s to come!

This book has truly been a gift to write and I’m honored to be able to share it with all of you very soon and as mentioned early, I’m kicking off the impending release with some fabulous giveaways!  Here’s what’s up for grabs. Please read to the bottom so that you know how to enter to win!

(No purchase necessary, I was not paid to promote these products, I love and use this stuff, I want to do this giveaway and made the decision to do so all by myself – no bribing or coercing from anyone was involved.)

LAST MINUTE ENTRY BY STEVE’S PALEO GOODS!  

FOUR PEOPLE WILL WIN A STEVE’S CLUB SAMPLER PACK!!!

1. Nourished App Downloads!  Five lucky people will win a free download of the brand new recipe app from Nourished Grain Free Recipes!  This app works for iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch.  You can store your cooking history, create shopping lists, and find amazing recipes by well-known bloggers (I’m even in there too a few times!!!) all at your fingertips.  I personally love and use this app and recommend it highly!

2. A copy of Digestive Health with REAL Food by Aglaée Jacob, M.S., R.D.!  One person will win this beautiful book is designed to help you learn about FODMAPS, SIBO, non-responsive celiac disease, food sensitivities and much much more!  Included in Digestive Health with REAL food you will find meal & snack recipes and ideas, helpful charts, food lists and meal plan examples – not to mention the beautiful photography and easy to understand road map of what foods work for you if you are having digestive issues.  AWESOME book that I’m sure will benefit many, many people!

3. A signed copy of The Paleo Coach by our very own Jason Seib! One person will win! In The Paleo Coach, Expert Advice for Extraordinary Health, Sustainable Fat Loss and an Incredible Body – you’ll find out that the secret is, there are NO secrets. Jason lays it down for you how to be “Healthy by Choice and Hot by Accident.”  The reviews of this book tell it all and work on the street is simple; this book is truly changing lives.  Everyone needs a perspective shift and The Paleo Coach offers anyone, new or old to this “getting healthy game” a much needed kick in the pants!

4. A One Year Print Subscription to Paleo Magazine!!!  One person will win! I love love love this magazine and learn something new from every issue I receive.  Paleo Magazine offers a quality product with so much thought and information put into each issue, you feel like you’re receiving a treasure trove of goodness every time a new magazine arrives in your mailbox!

5. A signed copy of the new and beautiful paleo book Gather by the Food Lovers Bill and Hayley! One person will win!  This is a coffee table book, conversation starter, true piece of artwork, and a way to show your friend, neighbors, and loved ones that eating paleo and entertaining with paleo foods is not a boring slab of meat and side of veggies.  Bill and Hayley take you on a magical food adventure creating entire meals for every occasion in which you would “Gather” from birthday celebrations, spring time garden parties, to fall harvest feasts.  Holy guacamole – whoever wins this book is one lucky dog and if you don’t win it – BUY IT!

6. A signed copy of Everyday Paleo Around the World: Italian Cuisine!  One person will win! As soon as I receive pre-release copies of the book, one lucky person will win one of the first copies of my new baby and you will have it well before anyone else can even get their little paws on it!!

7. A box of each type of EPIC Bar and an EPIC Bar T-shirt!!! One person will win! Brand new on the scene and beyond delicious, easy, and nutrition – the new EPIC bars, are, well, totally Epic. Made with grass fed beef, grass fed bison, or turkey, you will NOT find any gluten, soy, dairy, or unnecessary fillers in these convenient protein packed bars. I first sampled EPIC bars at PaleoFX and skeptical is my middle name, thus I fired away questions, scowled and growled, not wanting to like a “paleo bar” however; I was won over with the very first bite.  You. Must. Try.

8. A combo pack of Duck Fat and Beef Tallow from Fatworks! One person will win! In Everyday Paleo Around the World: Italian Cuisine you will find my suggestions in several recipes that call for cooking in ANIMAL fat rather than the standard extra virgin olive oil that most Italians use. Back in the day, Italians used predominantly animal fats for cooking and at the END of the cooking process would add Extra Virgin Olive Oil and I followed suit in this book. The Duck Fat and Beef Tallow from Fatworks is outstanding and has made my culinary adventures so much more rewarding and delicious. As I type, I eat eggs from my chickens fried in Fatworks Duck Fat and there’s no turning back. I’m forever hooked and I know you will be too. I stand behind this product and recommend HIGHLY that if you are not the lucky winner, you try this stuff for yourself because either way you’ll feel like you have won the grand prize!

9. A mixed case of grain free pasta from Cappello’s which includes their Fettuccine, Gnocchi, and Lasagna noodles!! One person will win! I recently discovered Cappello’s and as mentioned earlier, being the skeptic that I am, wasn’t entirely sure this was a product I would even like, much less trust.  Again, I was proven wrong. Capello’s offers grain free pasta made with these following ingredients: almond flour, cage-free eggs, tapioca flour, potato starch, xanthan gum, sea salt.  Yes, I consider this pasta a treat – and an awesome way to celebrate Italian food at it’s finest without the traditional gluten flour based pasta dishes.  I also recommend in the book to use vegetables as noodles but if you are looking to have a special meal with something that is really like the “real deal” I highly recommend Cappello’s products!

10. $100 gift certificate from Massa Natural Meats!!! One person will win! Make your meat choice, stock your freezer and be ready for the release of Everyday Paleo Around the World: Italian Cuisine! Massa is my personal beef and lamb provider and their meat is what I used to recreate the delicious Italian recipes that you’ll find in the new book. Grass fed/grass finished and raised the way animals are intended to be raised; it really doesn’t get better than this.  I trust Massa Natural Meats.  I know the folks who run the company. I have faith in what they do and what they stand for.

That’s 14 winners total including the 5 downloads for the Nourished App!

Now for the fun – HOW TO WIN!! No purchase is necessary and you  have several options to enter. All winners will be picked by random. Your chance to win will end on Sunday, May 19th at 12:00 am PST. Winners will be contacted via email or facebook and once the winners respond, they will be announced at the top of this blog post. Time is limited so please help me spread the word!

1. Of course I would LOVE for you to pre-order the book from Amazon or Barnes & Noble and than simply post to comments that you did so (I have tons of trust and faith in you, I really really do!)

2. Head over to my Facebook Page, find the post in which I mention this blog post, and SHARE IT with your friends – and of course post to comments that you did so!!!!  : )

3. Like my Facebook Page and the pages of those who are giving away these awesome products and post to comments that you did that too. To make it easy for you, here’s the links to the above mentioned facebook pages.

Nourished App

Digestive Health with Real Food

Jason Seib author of The Paleo Coach

Paleo Magazine

The Food Lovers authors of Gather

Epic Bar

Fatworks

Cappello’s Gluten Free/Grain Free Pasta

Massa Natural Meats

4. Be an over-achiever and do all 3 of the above mentioned things!  Even if you do not win, you will forever be a superstar in my heart.

Thank you all so much for your continued support and as always, enjoy!

Everyday Paleo Around the World: ITALIAN CUISINE and a Giveaway with LOTS of incredibly cool stuff….. is a post from Everyday Paleo - licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License

Click here to listen or find us on iTunes. Please submit your questions to paleopodcast@gmail.com and if you have a spare minute, please be sure to leave us a review on iTunes!!  Thank you very much and enjoy!

Here’s what we discuss in this episode:

• Caloric restriction.  (2:32)
• Underweight.  (15:45)
• Injury Prevention  (24:44)
• Recovery  (37:25)

Paleo Lifestyle and Fitness Podcast, Episode 37 is a post from Everyday Paleo - licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License

I bring you another quick lesson by example today.  As usual, this is all anecdotal and not a human ward study with all possible variables controlled, but I think the message is important.

Our subject today is Cayly, daughter of the famous Deb.  Cayly was never very overweight, but she saw remarkable changes in her mom and decided to give this paleo thing a go, too.  Interestingly, after 1 year and 3 months of what she calls 80% paleo (somewhat regular deviations from the plan, mostly with sugar), Cayly actually reached her largest size ever.  She looked like this:

Cayly owns and operates a dog grooming shop and her back was beginning to give her trouble after years of lifting canines.  At the point where she began to miss work from the pain, she decided she needed her mom’s help.  Deb got Cayly into the gym and started working with her on strengthening her back and removing her muscle imbalances so she could get her back back to what it used to be.  Fortunately, the training worked very well and Cayly was finally exercising properly, but all the time she was spending with her mom also influenced her to dial in her nutrition.  After transitioning from her estimated 80% paleo and no exercise outside of work to 100% paleo and exercising only 2 days per week for about an hour (including warm-up and mobility work), major changes began to happen.  Cayly looked like this in only 2 months:

There are two big messages here.  First, partial change can result in partial results for some people, but most are left far short of their goals and many, like Cayly, even move in the wrong direction.  If this is you, you may be tempted to blame paleo.  You may even be tempted to believe that others who found success must have been doing partial paleo, too, and that they must be special because they got results that elude you.  Don’t let your head go there.  Paleo works and you have the ability to change.  Simply understand that halfhearted attempts at a lifestyle overhaul will probably end up a lot like wishing – it seems to work sometimes, but not usually.

Second, paleo isn’t a diet, it’s a perspective based on one question: What does a human body need to be healthy?  Understanding this also means understanding that “doing the paleo diet” will leave most people short of their goals.  In other words, following the “rules” of paleo means using the word “diet” as a verb.  News flash: diets don’t work, even The Paleo Diet.  Gasp!  Hold on, before you choke on your bacon and kombucha let me explain.  Simply switching to eating a solid paleo diet is a HUGE step toward better health, and quite possibly the most important step most people will ever make, but it will not get anyone to peak health alone.  Cayly is a perfect example of this.  She added about two hours of heavy lifting and short, responsible interval training sessions to her week and the results have been astounding.  As a matter of fact, look what she can do these days:

We understand how hard change can be, but it’s only hard for a short time if you want it badly enough.  The much tougher (and often impossible) route is to apply partial diligence for either a painfully long time or many repeated attempts before finally learning this lesson or giving up.  As always, the choice is yours and nobody can tell you that you’re wrong.  I only ask that you be honest with yourself about what you want and how badly you want it.

Go forth and be awesome.

100% Cayly is a post from Everyday Paleo - licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License

1. Convenient and Delicious: I travel A LOT and trust me, finding quality airport food is not all that easy.  Therefore, I never leave home without PaleoStix (my favorite) and/or PaleoKits.  My kids love them, they pack easily, they are filling, and they taste really darn good.  Busting out some beef jerky is also so much better than opening up a stinky can of tuna or peeling hard-boiled eggs in a teeny tiny airplane seat while your seat mates send silent looks of disdain your direction. Here’s the boys scarfing down some Berky (just berries and jerky) and PaleoKrunch Bars for an afternoon snack before running out the door to Karate.

2. Fun, Innovative, Healthy: I love that my kids can have a treat that’s not highly processed and that I don’t have to spend hours trying to make!  If you haven’t had Steve’s PaleoKrunch, you might as well go hide under a rock somewhere in shame. This stuff is that good.  So good in fact that I have to limit the amount that I have in the house or I will eat it all and not share with anyone which is really not that nice of me.  The newest PaleoKrunch Cereal that Steve’s Paleo Goods is offering is a nut free version which makes my tummy VERY happy and it’s so easy to turn this yummy crunch into a special treat for those special occasions.  Here’s a quick and easy recipe that the boys and I made last week for friends who came over to visit:

PaleoKrunch Delight

2 ripe plantains

2 cups sliced strawberries

1 can coconut milk left in the fridge overnight

PaleoKrunch Cereal – Nut Free

1/4 cup coconut oil

1. In a large skillet, heat the coconut oil over medium high heat. Meanwhile, peel the plantains and slice into 1/4 inch thick pieces as shown below.

2. Fry the plantains in the coconut oil for about 3-4 minutes per side or until brown and crisp on the outside.

3. In a small dessert cup, add about a 1/4 cup sliced strawberries, sprinkle on some Nut Free PaleoKrunch and add another 1/4 cup sliced strawberries.

4. Scoop the cream from the top of the coconut milk can into a small mixing bowl and beat with a hand held mixer until it’s the consistency of whipped cream.  Top the strawberries with a little more Nut Free PaleoKrunch and a small spoonful of the coconut whipped cream.

5. Take a couple of the fried plantain slices and stick them into the side of the bowl next to the whipped cream.

6. EAT!

Makes about 4 servings.

3. Scrumptiously Saucy: Steve’s Paleo Goods recently started a PaleoChef line that offers dressings, marinades, and the newest addition, Steak Sauce and Ketchup! It’s impossible to find steak sauce or ketchup at a regular store that’s not full of garbage. Impossible.  That is why I LOVE that Steve’s Paleo Goods has bottled up this amazing line of goodness that frees up my time spent in the kitchen while offering a product that I can trust.  Here’s a picture of our Monday night dinner which included delicious steak topped with PaleoChef Steak Sauce.  I still love to make my own sauces and dips but when I simply don’t have time to do so; Steve always has my back.

4. Steve Gives Back: Steve’s Paleo Goods helps kids. Period. I can’t say enough about how awesome Steve’s Club truly is and the lives that are being changed could have all gone in a very different direction if it weren’t for this awesome endeavor.  Steve’s Club helps at risk kids by giving them a safe environment to learn about fitness and nutrition, a place to hang out, a place to gain strength both mentally and physically and I know that every time I purchase food from Steve’s Paleo Goods, 15% of the proceeds goes to help keep Steve’s Club running.  Check out this video detailing what Steve’s Club is all about and try not to cry. I dare you.

5. Steve Honor’s our Military: I’ve had the extreme pleasure of working with several branches of our armed forces and a huge problem that our brave men and women face is the lack of quality food when out in the field.  I always recommend Steve’s PaleoMRE’s and PaleoKrunch Bars which are easy to pack and full of good food to fuel the ones who need it most.  Furthermore, Steve’s Paleo Goods offers a 10% military discount which makes it that much easier for our armed forces to have access to real food when on the job. I’m always proud to recommend Steve’s Paleo Goods when working with the military communities and thank you Steve for your dedication and for honoring our armed forces. To receive  your military discount, simply email  militarydiscount@stevesoriginal.com.

Finally, a big personal thank you to Steve’s Paleo Goods for helping to fuel my family.  My kids (John and I too) are always excited beyond belief when a shipment arrives at our door and I’m grateful that I can feel good giving my family your product, knowing that your beef jerky comes from a quality source made with the best ingredients and that your small company has hit it big by simply doing what they believe in and helping out others along the way.  It simply doesn’t get much better than that

Happy Eating!!!

*Crazy but true, I wasn’t paid, bribed, or coerced into writing this blog post.  I do receive free samples from Steve’s Paleo Goods from time to time; however, I often order and pay for large quantities of food from Steve’s Paleo Goods and wrote this post because I darn well wanted to. That is all.

Why I Love Steve’s Paleo Goods is a post from Everyday Paleo - licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License

Click here to listen or find us on iTunes. Please submit your questions to paleopodcast@gmail.com and if you have a spare minute, please be sure to leave us a review on iTunes!!  Thank you very much and enjoy!

The ever amazing J. Stanton joins us today!  We get into some great stuff, including calories, nutrient density, fat loss, and motivation.

You can find J. Stanton at his excellent blog, Gnolls.org, and his book is The Gnoll Credo.

Paleo Lifestyle and Fitness Podcast, Episode 36 is a post from Everyday Paleo - licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License

I am always excited about our workshops but for some reason I’m SUPER excited about the next one we have on the books which will be in Denver, CO on August 24th!  Maybe this workshop is feeling extra special because John and I traveled to Denver for a honeymoon of sorts (we went to watch a Bronco’s game a couple months after we got married back in 2001) and it was SUCH a blast.  I remember getting off the plane and looking up and exclaiming to John that I had never seen such a giant blue sky in my entire life!  Or, maybe this one feels extra special because we are going to have the workshop at eden which is a restaurant and event center that is beyond cool and the Chef is even MORE beyond cool.  I had the opportunity to hang out with Chef Ching-yuan Hu at PaleoFX in Austin, TX a few weeks ago and her excitement and passion for making real food is truly contagious.  Now, we have an opportunity to hold our workshop at Chef Ching’s location in Denver and although attending an Everyday Paleo Workshop is pretty awesome (in my not-so-humble opinion) all on it’s own; for this particular workshop, the participants will also be fed a paleo lunch prepared by Chef Ching herself!!!  So, come to Denver, CO on August 24th and hang out with Jason Seib and I as we fill your brains with tons of paleo information and Chef Ching will also fill your bellies for an exclusive attendees only lunch!  I simply can’t wait…  Click here to register for this event and as always, space is limited!!  See you all in August!

Everyday Paleo Workshop – Denver, CO!!!! is a post from Everyday Paleo - licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License

Click here to listen or find us on iTunes. Please submit your questions to paleopodcast@gmail.com and if you have a spare minute, please be sure to leave us a review on iTunes!!  Thank you very much and enjoy!

Here’s what we discuss in this episode:

• Morning sickness.  (4:02)
• More on intermittent fasting.  (11:37)
• CrossFit again.  (19:45)
• The paleo-ness of nuts.  (31:36)
• Allergies, weight loss supplements, and cleanses.  (36:17)

Paleo Lifestyle and Fitness Podcast, Episode 35 is a post from Everyday Paleo - licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License

We have been fortunate enough to have some amazingly warm and sunny days this month.  Spring has hit and our outdoor grill is being used in full force.  Tonight we cooked up a skirt steak topped with chimichurri sauce.  For those of you who have not tried chimichurri; it is an amazingly versatile sauce made with combinations of parsley, oregano and/or cilantro and is served with steak, fish or chicken.  Sarah shared with you her delicious version here and today I’m taking the more traditional Argentinean route; I hope you enjoy!

Skirt Steak with Chimichurri Sauce

Serves Family of 4 

Marinade for Skirt Steak:

1. 2 Tbsp walnut oil
2. 1 Tbsp red wine vinegar
3. 1 clove garlic, chopped
4. 2 tsp fresh oregano, chopped
5. sea salt & fresh ground pepper to taste

Place 2-4 pound skirt steak in shallow container. Combine ingredients and pour over steak. Marinade meat for at least 1 hour.

Chimichurri Sauce

1. 1 cup firmly packed fresh flat-leaf parsley, trimmed of thick stems
2. 3-4 garlic cloves
3. 2 Tbsp fresh oregano leaves
4. 1/2 cup olive oil
5. 2 Tbsp red wine vinegar
6. 1 teaspoon sea salt
7. 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
8. Red pepper flakes to taste

Finely chop the parsley, fresh oregano, and garlic (or process in a food processor several pulses). Place in a small bowl. Stir in the olive oil, vinegar, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes.  Serve immediately or refrigerate. If chilled, return to room temperature before serving.

To Serve

Grill steak 6 to 8 minutes total for medium-rare. Transfer steaks to a cutting board and let stand, loosely covered with foil, 5 minutes. Thinly slice steaks diagonally and top with chimichurri sauce.

Enjoy!

Skirt Steak with Chimichurri Sauce is a post from Everyday Paleo - licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License

Click here to listen or find us on iTunes. Please submit your questions to paleopodcast@gmail.com and if you have a spare minute, please be sure to leave us a review on iTunes!!  Thank you very much and enjoy!

Here’s what we discuss in this episode:

• Temptation and motivation.  (6:03)
• Not enough calories.  (21:06)
• Cellulite.  (29:30)
• Resistant Kids.  (36:09)

Paleo Lifestyle and Fitness Podcast, Episode 34 is a post from Everyday Paleo - licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License

3 Fixes for the Hip Hinge

I know it was posted in October, but I hope you’ve been working on a proper hip hinge. As a trainer, I wanted to address three common things I like to “fix” with clients. I say “fix” because there’s a trend in the fitness industry that there are “right” and “wrong” ways to move. I disagree. I would say there’s more optimal and less optimal. In order to understand the first critique, I want to introduce you to the righting reflex.

The righting reflex is the way your body corrects itself when it’s taken out of its normal upright position. When you lead with the head, the rest of the body follows; this is why a cat always lands on its feet. When it comes to hip hinging, the natural inclination is to initiate the movement with the head up looking forward. This is your righting reflex at work. It can be very effective when you’re lifting maximal loads, but when you’re training submaximal loads, you’re training in a position of increased cervical extension. This leads me to my first fix.

1. Keeping a neutral head position

When you’re in the start position of your deadlift, which position do you think is more optimal at keeping your neck in a position of minimal strain?

If you chose “A” you are correct.
The way I like to explain my correction to clients is how would you finish the deadlift?

If you chose “A”, you are correct.
You should be able to see how starting in the first position “B”, and keeping all things stable and rigid, would mean you would finish in the second position “B”. That’s quite far fetched because of the righting reflex, but exaggerations make for great teaching tools. I use the cue “tuck your chin” when the client is in the starting position. You could also have them pretend they’re trying to hold a tennis ball or an apple against their neck using their chin. Because facial drivers can help, looking up (without moving your head) and pressing your tongue to the roof of your mouth can help you feel like your head is up, without actually having your head up. This will help clients start the movement the same way they finish. Speaking of finishing positions, this leads me to my second fix.

2. Finishing your hinge with hip extension

This should seem obvious: if you’re doing a hip hinge, standing up and finishing the movement would equate to hip extension. Except our bodies are the greatest compensators. For example, in both of these deadlifts, the lovely model Nicole has stood all the way up. Can you tell which one she finished with her hips and which one she compensated by using her lumbar spine?

If you answered that “A” is hip extension, you are correct.
Both deadlifts appear as though she stood all the way up, but one used hip extension and the other used her lower back to compensate. Notice how her ribs flare up in photo “B”, as well. Kinda hard to get an ab workout when you force one of its attachments way up like that. And yes, you should be getting an “ab workout” every time you life heavy because your core should be braced to keep your middle stable when you lift. As awkward as it sounds, as you’re standing up from your hinge, pretend you have a dollar bill between your cheeks and you don’t want to drop it. You’ll be able to stand up and extend your hips without as much extension coming from your low back. For the third fix, I’d like to discuss standing up.

3. Utilizing the posterior chain in the hip hinge

The muscles involved in the hip hinge are primarily the large muscles of the posterior hip: the glutes and the hamstrings. In an anterior dominant society, our quads and hip flexors tend to want to take the brunt of the load, including exercises intended for muscles of the posterior chain. This is better seen with movement, so I filmed a quick video to show the difference between loading the glutes and hamstrings and loading the quads:

If you watch the bar path in the first three deadlifts off the rack, Nicole was able to keep her weight shifted back to load her glutes and hamstrings. She then stopped and changed the bar path to load the quads by shooting her knees forward as soon as the bar passed them. You want to make sure to keep your weight back so your knees stay behind the path of the bar. As I mention earlier, this doesn’t mean it’s wrong, and it’s definitely not wrong to train the anterior chain, but it’s my opinion that hip hinging exercises should be loading the backside, not the front. Save that for squats.

These are just three of the things that I look for when I am coaching the hip hinge in person and online. If you want your hinge checked out, be sure to join Everyday Paleo Lifestyle and Fitness where I critique hinging on a regular basis.

Move Often. Move Smart.

3 Fixes for the Hip Hinge is a post from Everyday Paleo - licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License

By the time you read this blog post the current events of today will have passed, It’s the San Francisco Giants home game opener this afternoon and as a California native I’m cheering my team on! I thought it only fitting to cook up a meal that just screams sports, so what else than…CHILI! This chili recipe has been a long time staple of mine. I love making chili because it’s such a forgiving dish. You can play around with the ingredients and the end result comes out great every time.  I have mentioned before that I have a diverse meat selection at my disposal so for tonight’s chili I used a combination of Venison, Buffalo, Beef and Pork.  I don’t usually have a lot of buffalo lying around but my husband picked it up at a local butcher shop and I figured tonight’s chili was a great use for it. I was a little skeptical that the buffalo would have some strange flavor that I wasn’t going to like but as always this chili turned out great.  Absolutely any combination of meat works for this recipe.

Rachel’s All-American Meat Lovers Chili (Serves 6-8 adults)

6 Ounces Italian Sausage

1 Pound Round Steak, chopped into even bite sized pieces

2 Pounds Ground Sirloin

2 Cups Chopped Yellow Onion

1 ½ Cups Bell Pepper (Combination of Red and Green)

8 Cloves of Garlic (Minced)

2 (28 Ounce) cans of chopped tomatoes with their juice

2 Tablespoons Chili Powder

1 Tbs Ancho Chili Pepper

1 Tbs Cumin

3 tsp Tomato Paste

1 tsp Dried Oregano

½ tsp Fresh Ground Pepper and ½ tsp Salt (adjust to your taste)

2 Bay Leaves

¼ cup red wine (optional…but highly recommended)

1. Heat a large pan over medium-high heat. Remove casings from sausage. Add all the meat, onion, bell pepper, and garlic to pan. Cook until meat is browned, stirring to crumble.
2. Add chili powder, ancho chili pepper, cumin and tomato paste, oregano, salt, pepper and bay leaves. Cook 1 minute , stirring constantly. Stir in wine and tomatoes and bring to boil.
3. Transfer to crock pot and let cook for 6 hours on low (or cook uncovered on the stove for a half hour, stirring occasionally)
4. Discard bay leaves and serve

Enjoy!

Rachel’s All-American Meat Lovers Chili is a post from Everyday Paleo - licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License

Click here to listen or find us on iTunes. Please submit your questions to paleopodcast@gmail.com and if you have a spare minute, please be sure to leave us a review on iTunes!!  Thank you very much and enjoy!

Here’s what we discuss in this episode:

• Why don’t I feel bad when I cheat?  (7:37)
• Internet Paleo  (16:24)
• Plateaus and bad sleep patterns.  (24:53)

Paleo Lifestyle and Fitness Podcast, Episode 33 is a post from Everyday Paleo - licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License

Here’s what people are saying about attending an Everyday Paleo Workshop:

“Thank you so much for this seminar.  I’ve been paleo since September but this seminar still was full of information that opened my eyes and blew my mind!!  You both have such a a wonderful perspective on this amazing lifestyle – I have changed my lens!!” Meghan 

“Excellent, enthusiastic presenters!  Relevant, humorous, believable!  Can’t believe I paid attention for 6 hours!!” Julie

“Glad that you were very casual, real, and laid back!  It’s always refreshing when professionals will speak real truth, self anecdotal, with facts to back it, who are truly passionate and understand but will NOT excuse the psychological barriers their students face.” Mathew F.

“I have been trying to eat Paleo since May 2012 and was extremely strict for the first 30 days. I have days where I fall off the wagon, and your seminar was extremely helpful in letting me find my  motivation again.” Anna V.

Everyday Paleo Workshop Coming to the Portland, OR Area!!! is a post from Everyday Paleo - licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License

Click here to listen or find us on iTunes. Please submit your questions to paleopodcast@gmail.com and if you have a spare minute, please be sure to leave us a review on iTunes!!  Thank you very much and enjoy!

Legendary Jim Laird joins us and we talk about all the stuff you want to know!

Jim’s gym is J&M Strength and Conditioning.
Be sure to check out the Train Like a Girls Seminar.
Jim’s blog is Where Performance and Health Collide.
The blog written by some of Jim’s amazing clients is called The Miss Fits.

Paleo Lifestyle and Fitness Podcast, Episode 32 is a post from Everyday Paleo - licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License

Let’s go back to the beginning.  I asked William about when he first started having issues with his weight and he said, “I can look back and see pictures of me when I was younger, when I didn’t realize that I was actually somewhat normal in size, but I think in my mind I always thought I was overweight.  I was in a restaurant with my mom when I was around 9 years old, and this kid turns around and says ‘look at that fat kid.’  I looked around because I didn’t think he was talking about me, but when I looked at my mom and saw that she was mortified I knew he was talking about me.  That’s when it really sunk in.”  This stuff breaks my heart to hear, and so many people have similar stories.

A few years later, William was convinced to put his body to good use playing football.  Unfortunately, this caused some internal turmoil as he struggled with whether or not he should try to slim down for real life or bulk up to appease his coach.  The ramifications of those years continued on after football because William kept eating like a lineman after he stopped playing.

I asked William about the various avenues for weight loss he tried in the past.  He sighed and said, “You know, I think my story is like a lot of people’s.  You hear about all these different things, like ‘lose twenty pounds in twenty days,’ and I think I’ve tried pretty much everything.  I tried Weight Watchers and I think I lost 13 pounds in the first week.  But eventually I just didn’t want to count points anymore.  It was just too restricting.  It took too much work.”

Between 2003 and 2006 William gained almost 150 pounds and was diagnosed with sleep apnea.  He said, “It seems like it was one thing after another until I just wanted to quit.  I went to a top notch facility here in town that cost $150 a month and my parents paid for my membership, so it’s not like people weren’t throwing a rope down to me, but it just didn’t seem like there was any way out.  And that’s where I was at this last Christmas when Cheri and John came to visit and told me about this thing called paleo.”  Paleo made good sense to William and he perceived it as something he could do forever.  He decided to give it a go.

Cheri and John also went with William to his gym where they introduced him to EPLifeFit workouts.  “I used to go to the gym maybe once every four days just to clear my conscience and feel like I was getting my money’s worth from my membership.  After Cheri and John were here, I told my workout partner that I wanted to do these workouts and we started working out every other day with occasional breaks on the weekends.”

William was off to a great start with a new lifestyle, and this time he was doing things that made sense to him.  He sent me this picture on March 21:

Here’s the side by side comparison after just under 3 months:

I’m not condoning the use of the scale to track your progress, but William said, “I’ve dropped 57 pounds since Christmas.  It has been about 2 weeks since I weighed myself so it might be even more, but that’s 6 pant sizes so far.  I’m having to put new holes in my belt all the time now and I really feel better.  And this is easy, it isn’t like bondage.”

Here, once again, we have another excellent example of paleo slamming the brakes on a lifetime of struggling.  Just like his sister, Cheri, William is just getting started.  I will update you on his progress as it unfolds.  In the mean time, here is William’s best advice for you – learn how to cook!  “I think paleo is really easy, but especially if you know how to cook.”

Are you ready for sustainable change?  When you are truly ready, you can follow in William’s footsteps.  If you don’t know where to begin, are having trouble with your motivation, or have failed before, the details of the process are in The Paleo Coach.

Go forth and be awesome!

William Power is a post from Everyday Paleo - licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License

Click here to listen or find us on iTunes. Please submit your questions to paleopodcast@gmail.com and if you have a spare minute, please be sure to leave us a review on iTunes!!  Thank you very much and enjoy!

Here’s what we discuss in this episode:

• Paleo FX
• Grass fed/pastured meats.  (19:15)
• Why do I suck at paleo??  (29:00)
• Sugar free gum.  (40:07)
• Arguing about paleo.  (47:46)

Paleo Lifestyle and Fitness Podcast, Episode 31 is a post from Everyday Paleo - licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License

Contributors include: Primal Blueprint, Everyday Paleo Lifestyle and Fitness, Primal Palate, Paleo Magazine, Bulletproof coffee, Melissa Joulwan of Well Fed, Civilized Caveman, Fat Burning Man, Nell Stephenson, and so many more..

The Primal Life Kit – Holy Guacamole Lot’s of GREAT STUFF! is a post from Everyday Paleo - licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License

Here is a sneak peak recipe from the new Italian Cuisine Book  which is a twist on one of the recipes you saw in the video above: Pumpkin Cream with Prawns.  Although pumpkins are found most often in fall, you can also sub with butternut squash or sweet potatoes which are both easier to find this time of year.

Pumpkin Cream with Prawns

For the pumpkin cream:

1 small sugar pumpkin, peeled and cubed, yields approximately 6 cups (you can also use butternut squash or sweet potato)

2 tablespoons butter or ghee

2 cups leeks, finely diced

1 tablespoon fresh oregano leaves

Chicken broth, enough to just cover the cubed pumpkin

Sea salt to taste

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

For the prawns:

12 large prawns, shells removed and deveined

3-4 tablespoons butter or ghee

1 tablespoon white wine

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

2 garlic cloves, minced

Sea salt to taste

Minced fresh oregano leaves or chives for garnish (optional)

Prep Time: 1 hour

Cook Time: 35 minutes

Serves: 4-5

1. In a large soup pot, heat butter of ghee over medium heat. Add the leaks and sauté until tender, about 5-7 minutes.
2. Add the cubed pumpkin and enough chicken stock to cover the pumpkin.
3. Raise the heat to high and bring to a boil.
4. Turn down the heat to low or medium low and let simmer for approximately 20 minutes or until the pumpkin is fork tender.
5. Add the oregano leaves and let simmer another 3-5 minutes.
6. Remove the pot from the heat and using either a handheld immersion blender or by transferring the contents into a food processor, blend the pumpkin mixture until completely smooth.
7. Add the extra virgin olive oil and mix well.
8. Season to taste with sea salt and set aside.
9. Now, it’s time to prepare the prawns! In a large skillet, melt the butter or ghee over medium high heat.
10.  Once the butter is nice and hot, add the cleaned prawns and the minced garlic and sauté quickly for about 1 minute, turning often.
11.  Add the wine to the hot pan with the prawns and garlic and stir. Cook for another 1-2 minutes or until the prawns are pink and firm.
12. Turn the heat off and add the extra virgin olive oil and a little bit of salt and toss the prawns in the oil to coat.
13. Serve the pumpkin cream in soup bowls topped with 2-3 prawns per person.
14. Drizzle each serving with a the olive oil and juices from the pan that you cooked the prawns in and also some minced fresh oregano leaves or chives if desired.

Eno Ristorante Video and a Sneak Peak Recipe from Everyday Paleo Around the World, Italian Cuisine!! is a post from Everyday Paleo - licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License

Click here to listen or find us on iTunes. Please submit your questions to paleopodcast@gmail.com and if you have a spare minute, please be sure to leave us a review on iTunes!!  Thank you very much and enjoy!

Here’s what we discuss in this episode:

• Workout frequency.  (3:50)
• Sarah’s favorite food processors.  (12:50)
• Mac and cheese replacement.  (16:20)
• Tracking macronutrients and calories.  (21:28)
• Body weight movements.  (29:38)
• Fibromyalgia.  (40:25)

Paleo Lifestyle and Fitness Podcast, Episode 30 is a post from Everyday Paleo - licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License

Family gatherings are always enjoyable for me, especially when they involve mine or my husband’s parents. I love the excitement my kids get when their papa and grandma come over and the special memories that we all make with every meal we sit down to. This past Sunday was no different. We enjoyed a lovely meal making more memories. I made a huge pork roast and served it with a simple green salad and roasted asparagus on Sunday night and lucky for me there was plenty of roast leftovers for the following night. SCORE! On Monday night I sat down thinking about what I could do to re-purpose this meat so that my family wouldn’t be eating the same exact thing we had the night before. I came up with a very simple green salad topped with the pork and roasted sweet potato coins that really made the salad. I highly recommend sweet potato in a green salad – beyond good!

Night 1 – Pork Roast with Vegetables

(serves 6+)

4.5 to 5 pound Pork Loin Roast (two pork loins tied together)

2 Bulbs Roasted Garlic

1 Tbsp fresh sage, chopped

1 ½ Tbsp fresh rosemary, chopped

1 ½ Tbsp fresh thyme, chopped

Salt & Pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Roast Garlic

1. Cut tops off of garlic and place each on a separate piece of foil
2. Drizzle garlic with melted bacon grease (or melted coconut oil)
3. Wrap garlic with tin foil and place on baking sheet
4. Bake in 350 oven for approximately 1 hour or until garlic cloves brown, soften and start rising out of garlic skin
5. After garlic is done let cool and then squeeze garlic out of skin into bowl

Preheat oven to 475 F

Make Rub

1. Place chopped sage, rosemary and thyme in bowl and mix with salt and pepper to taste

Prepare Pork Loin

1. Trim excess fat from pork loin and place in baking pan
2. Salt and Pepper pork loin
3. Rub pork loin with mashed roasted garlic and then distribute chopped herbs evenly over roast and pat down
4. Place Pork in baking dish

Roast the pork for 30 minutes at 475 degrees F, then reduce the heat to 425 degrees F and roast for an additional hour. Test for doneness using an instant-read thermometer. When the internal temperature reaches 150 degrees F, remove the roast from the oven. Allow it to sit for about 20 minutes before carving. It will continue to cook while it rests.

Night 2 – Green Salad with Pork and Sweet Potato

(serves 2 adults)

4 cups mixed Greens

4 Slices of Pork Roast

2 Sweet Potatos

½ cup pecans (toasted)

Sliced red onion

Prepare Sweet Potato

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F
2. Slice sweet potatoes thinly with mandolin slicer or knife
3. Toss sweet potato slices in bowl with 1 tbsp melted coconut oil, salt and pepper
4. Place sweet potato slices on baking sheet and place in oven
5. Bake for 15 minutes and flip over, cook another 15 minutes or until desired crispness occurs

While potatoes are cooking slice the red onion and toast walnuts in a frying pan on medium heat until golden brown.

Assemble Salad

1. Place two cups greens on each plate
2. Arrange sliced red onion, walnuts, sweet potato and pork roast slices on each plate

Drizzle with Everyday Paleo Vinaigrette (2 tsp Dijon mustard, ¼ cup red wine vinegar, ½ cup evoo, 2 tbsp orange juice, salt and pepper – wisk together!)

Enjoy!

Roasted Garlic and Herb Crusted Pork Roast Two Ways is a post from Everyday Paleo - licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License

Click here to listen or find us on iTunes. Please submit your questions to paleopodcast@gmail.com and if you have a spare minute, please be sure to leave us a review on iTunes!!  Thank you very much and enjoy!

Here’s what we discuss in this episode:

• Not sleeping after CrossFit workouts.  (6:54)
• Smoothies.  (20:32)
• Health beyond appearances.  (30:22)
• Transitioning off breastfeeding,  (42:35)

Paleo Lifestyle and Fitness Podcast, Episode 29 is a post from Everyday Paleo - licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License

I love sharing paleo lifestyle success stories because each one is another opportunity to help more people understand how easy it is to get a healthy and attractive body once you have the right perspective.  Today, I would like to tell you about Christina.  I believe many of you will be able to relate with the struggles she went through to get where she is today, and I hope that her example might lead some of you to change directions and stop fighting a losing battle.

This was Christina when we first met.  This is also her at her fittest before paleo and responsible exercise:

When Christina was in college, around 2000, she began to become dissatisfied with her body.  “Sitting in class, I noticed that my thighs were huge,” she said.  “There was a girl in my class who was a runner, and she was really skinny, so I thought if I ran I would look more like her.”  Let’s pause for just a second to examine Christina’s perspective at this point.  As we have tried to establish many times on this blog, in our seminars, on our podcast, and in our books, sustainable improvements to aesthetics happen only though improvements in health.  Once we understand this fact, goals like “I want to be skinny,” or “I want to lose weight,” turn into goals like “I want to lose fat” and “I want to be really healthy so I can be hot by accident.”  Moving on.

“I started by running two miles per day, maybe three, and it would wipe me out,” Christina told me.  “But I eventually decided that to actually be skinny I just needed to run more, so I decided to train for a marathon.  One day, on a 6 mile run, my knee completely gave out and ended my marathon training.  I went to the doctor and got orthotics and anti-pronation running shoes because I still really wanted to run, but my body wasn’t agreeing with me.”  It makes me sad, but this is often how these stories go.  The mainstream fat loss prescription is wrong and our bodies usually try really hard to tell us as much, but we tend to take things in an even more unnatural direction by adding more contrived pieces to the equation, like gear, supplements, drugs, and/or medical procedures.

Christina believed that if she exercised enough she could eat whatever she wanted, so diet was never really a big consideration for her, but there was plenty more cardio in her regular routine.  “I spent a lot of time on the elliptical and rowing machines,” she said.  “I also took one of those classes where you lift 2 lb weights and do lots of sit-ups.  I did kick boxing classes, step aerobics classes, dance aerobics classes, trail running, rollerblading, and mountain biking, all supplemented on top of my running.  At one point I was exercising a total of three to four hours per day, every day.”

Of course I had to ask the magic question, “Were you ever happy with your body during that time?”

“No,” she replied.  “I just kept gaining fat around my thighs.”  Over a six year period of intense cardio Christina gained 10 lbs of fat.  What??  How can this be??

In 2006 Christina joined the military and, after their rigorous physical testing, she quit working out for two years.  “I just kind of gave up,” she said, “but nothing ever changed.  I didn’t get any bigger and I didn’t get any skinnier.”  This speaks volumes to me.  So many people have the mindset that tons of cardio is necessary to reach their goals, and when they never get to those goals, they assume that they must continue toiling away in order to keep whatever modest gains they may have achieved.  Unfortunately, more damage is often inevitable (especially concerning the thyroid, as covered nicely in this very well referenced article by Kiefer).

After her two year sabbatical, Christina decided to return to all that cardio.  Even though this decision seems crazy after all those years of no results with these same methods, I can understand her decision.  When everyone believes the same useless information, what other conclusions can you possibly come to?

Let’s jump ahead past more years of the same stuff, another break driven by hopelessness, and adding lots of mainstream dietary madness into the mix (caloric restriction, low fat, and nearly vegetarian). Naturally, Christina walked into my gym frustrated.  I actually think the frustration is what saved her because she was ready to try anything I threw at her.  When I told her she was going to have to quit doing cardio to get the results she wanted, she was certainly surprised, but she didn’t have anything to lose.  And while she had begun to understand that nutrition played a bigger role than she had given it credit for, I also explained that her diet would probably be responsible for at least 80% of the results she wanted.  She agreed to give the paleo lifestyle a go, and we got to work.

Here is Christina today:

Here’s the side by side comparison:

And here she is in action:

How did she do it?  By giving her body what it expects to be healthy.  She ate a solid paleo diet with minimal deviations from the natural plan, she lifted heavy things, she walked often, and she incorporated some short duration high intensity interval training.  Aside from walking, Christina only works out 3 days per week for an hour or less.  No magic.  No tricks.  No gimmicks.  She just stopped trying to cheat the system in pursuit of purely aesthetic goals, instead opting to get really healthy.  And the good news is that she is really just getting started.  I will update you on her progress in the future, and there will be a lot more progress because Christina’s new lifestyle is sustainable and free of the stress that comes with crazy hours of cardio, weighing and measuring food, counting points, gobbling up piles of supplements, and all the other nonsense that never leads to any real change.  The take away message here is that more of the same is probably not what you need if you find yourself stuck in a rut, or even a downward spiral, from mainstream fitness and nutrition business as usual.  If your story sounds like Christina’s, I challenge you to change your perspective, even if it’s just to try something new for a while.  What have you got to lose except fat, misery, and desperation?

If you are ready for change and would like all the small details, check out The Paleo Coach.

Go forth and be awesome.

How It All Came Together For Christina is a post from Everyday Paleo - licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License

Click here to listen or find us on iTunes. Please submit your questions to paleopodcast@gmail.com and if you have a spare minute, please be sure to leave us a review on iTunes!!  Thank you very much and enjoy!

Here’s what we discuss in this episode:

• Intermittent fasting and lots of paleo perspective ranting.  (5:09)
• Eating out and paleo dating.  (28:45)
• Autoimmune kids.  (38:45)

Paleo Lifestyle and Fitness Podcast, Episode 28 is a post from Everyday Paleo - licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License

Note from Sarah: We recently introduced Rachel as part of our EverydayPaleo team.  You can learn more about her on the about page.  

As all of you moms and dads out there can imagine, most of my mornings consist of me rushing around the house getting kids dressed, making lunches and trying to get some food in everyone’s bellies before we all head out of the house for the day.  During the week breakfast normally looks like scrambled eggs and fruit in multiple varieties, because let’s face it, it’s fast and easy. Thankfully everyone in my house likes scrambled eggs so I don’t get many complaints, but when the weekend rolls around I take advantage of the extra time we all have together and try to make something more special and fun and…well…YUMMY!

This breakfast skillet is SO good and even though it takes a bit more time to prepare it really is quite easy. I have made this dish on several occasions including one of our camping trips last summer. It was a huge hit! Most of my family and friends are not on the Paleo bandwagon so they were very intrigued by my use of sweet potatoes in a breakfast dish. They all looked at the concoction with questions and interest and then dug right in! Everyone loved it, because come on…what’s not to love!

Sausage, Egg and Sweet Potato Breakfast Skillet

5 cups sweet potato, grated

1 cup yellow onion, chopped

1 clove garlic, crushed

1 pound ground pork breakfast sausage

Sea salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

6 egg

2 Tbsp coconut oil

Sliced avocado (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Turn stove on medium high heat and melt 2 Tbsp coconut oil in a cast iron skillet.
3. When oil is hot add onion and cook onion until soft and translucent.  Add garlic and cook for another minute.
4. Add sausage to onion in skillet and cook until the sausage is cooked through and crumbly.
5. Add grated sweet potato, salt and pepper to onion and sausage mixture, continue cooking until sweet potato is soft and just cooked through, 3-4 minutes. Stir frequently.  Sweet potato should still hold its grated appearance and not get mushy. Be sure not to overcook as the mixture will have more cook time in the oven.
6. When mixture is cooked through, turn off heat.
7. With a spoon create 6 wells in sweet potato and sausage mixture. Crack 1 egg in each well.
8. Place skillet in oven for approximately 5-8 minutes depending on desired firmness of your egg.

To serve, scoop onto a plate and garnish with sliced avocado.

Sausage, Egg and Sweet Potato Breakfast Skillet is a post from Everyday Paleo - licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License