Leave only footprints

Latest

Paleo Ketchup


Posted by: Nicky

So I picked up a rotisserie chicken from Wegmans for dinner, and I started to crave ketchup to go with it.

I remember a while back reading one of my Grandma’s books about cooking during the Great Depression, “Clara’s Kitchen.” The book was written by Clara Cannucciari and her grandson, Christopher. It’s a great read, and many of the recipes incidentally happen to be paleo (Clara happened to be in her 90’s when the book was written by the way). I thought “if an Italian grandmother makes this, it must be good.” So I tried it. And it was goooood. And it took me less than 5 minutes to make. Check out the book if you get a chance.

There is some vinegar in this recipe, but it’s better than high fructose corn syrup. I imagine you could  try to substitute lemon juice for the vinegar, but I haven’t tried it yet. It tastes good even without the salt.

Here’s the recipe I followed from the book:

6 ounces tomato paste (homemade or canned)

1/4 cup water

1 clove garlic, pressed

2 tablespoons vinegar

1/2 teaspoon salt

Mix together tomato paste, water, garlic, vinegar and salt and put in a sterilized jar. It makes about a cup. Keep refrigerated.

Enjoy!

Posted by  |  January 4, 2011 | Categories: Recipes | Tags: , | Leave a comment

A New Year A New Beginning


Happy New Year to everyone!

I regret to inform you that I have fallen victim to the evils of holiday traditions. Yes, I failed to go completely paleo this holiday season. It is hard to not eat what a little old Irish Grandmother tells you to eat. She is a sweet lady, I couldn’t make her upset. But! This is a new year and there are a lot of people how have committed to eating paleo for the month of January. Check out hunter-gatherer.com John Durant is going to be doing this as well.

So after falling extremely short of my 6 month goal, I will push forward again and go until July of this year. I hope to be announcing something very big in February that the Paleo Diet will help me with. But this is a secret!

So please, if you have any words of encouragement they would be very VERY helpful. This is going to be tough, but with the holidays done this should be much easier!

 

Long days and pleasant nights,

Shoeless Joe

Posted by  |  January 1, 2011 | Categories: Life, Paleo | Tags: , , , | 2 Comments

Paleo Chicken Fingers


Posted By: Nicky

Chicken fingers are a quick and easy meal that I like to make at least once a week. I found this recipe at liveprimal.com and then made a few subtle changes. This site contains a wide variety of paleo recipes, so check it out: http://liveprimal.com/LPrecipes.pdf.

These chicken fingers are very easy to make. I try to keep the ingredients on hand. These can be cooked in a frying pan, but I find they turn out better if they are baked in an oven.

What you will need:

1-2 lb boneless skinless chicken tenders or chicken breasts cut into strips

1 egg, beaten

1/2 c almond flour

1/2 t sea salt

1 tsp poultry seasoning

1 tsp dry mustard powder

olive or coconut oil to line cooking sheet or for skillet

Set the oven to 375 degrees. Cover a cookie sheet with aluminum foil and coat with oil. Place egg into a bowl and beat. Place the almond flour with seasonings into another bowl. Dip each chicken piece into the egg bowl and then dip into the flour mixture. Place each piece on the cookie sheet.

Place the cookie sheet in the oven for 30-40 minutes, turning halfway through. The chicken fingers are done when the juices run clear and there is no pink.

These can be eaten plain, topped with marinara sauce, or used in salads.

Enjoy!

Posted by  |  December 31, 2010 | Categories: Paleo, Recipes | Tags: , | 1 Comment

My Trip to Chipotle


I went to Chipotle today. (Nothing new there) There was a couple in front of me who looked like they have never been in one before. Normally I would get a little antsy about the line not moving…AT ALL. But instead of cutting in the sign lookers I waited patiently. They even offered me to go first, but I didn’t want to be a jerk so I waited. When they were trying to pay for their order the system went down and they got their food for free. FREE CHIPTOLE! I was thinking, ‘Hell Yeah! Free food!’ but when I got to the cash register I asked if they could try one more time. I didn’t want to feel like I stole from them. They tried again but it was still down. So I took my free Chipotle salad and sat down to eat. When I was done eating I walked up to the register and asked if they had it up and running again. They said it was so I offered to pay for my food. I could have gotten away with free food, but it’s not in my nature. If I go somewhere for food that I intend to purchase I can’t just take it. To me that feels like stealing.

So the lesson today: Be Trustworthy. You’ll feel better about it later.

Long days and pleasant nights,

Shoeless Joe

Posted by  |  December 20, 2010 | Categories: Barefoot, Life, Paleo, Random Ramblings | Tags: , , | Leave a comment

Spaghetti Squash with Meat Sauce


This is an easy meal that I make about once a week. It’s better than real spaghetti. And yes, you can spin it on your fork like real spaghetti.

1 spaghetti squash
1 lb ground beef (grass-fed if possible)
Your favorite marinara sauce

Cut spaghetti squash in half lengthwise. Remove seeds and place cut side down on a cookie sheet lined with aluminum foil. Bake at 375 degrees for 35-40 minutes or until fork tender. When the squash is done and cool enough to handle, scrape the insides out with a fork and you have your very own gluten-free spaghetti.

In the meantime, brown the ground beef. Drain any excess fat. Add marinara sauce.

Add the meat sauce to the squash.

Enjoy!

* I have not tried this, but you can microwave spaghetti squash if you prefer. According to http://www.wegmans.com: Place one squash half, skin cut side down (one half at a time), on microwave-safe dish; cover with microwave-safe plastic wrap. Microwave on HIGH 10-12 min, until tender. Repeat with second half. Let rest, covered, 10-12 min, until cool enough to handle. Carefully remove plastic wrap to avoid steam.

Posted by: Nicky

Posted by  |  December 14, 2010 | Categories: Recipes | Leave a comment

Live Your Life To The Fullest


Whatever comes your way, you can get through it. Live your life as if today was your last, because it just might be.

Posted by  |  December 11, 2010 | Categories: Life, Personal Legend, Spirituality | Tags: , , , | Leave a comment

Are You Too Clean?


I don’t understand the big deal behind the “handless” Lysol soap dispensers. It kills 99.9% of germs so what does it matter if you touch the darn soap dispenser! You’re already going to be killing germs, what will a couple more do. We should not be using anti-microbial sanitizers as often as our society does. We need to have some exposure so that we can fight it. Check out this link to learn more.

http://bit.ly/enh9sH

Posted by  |  December 9, 2010 | Categories: Random Ramblings | Tags: | Leave a comment

Eating Bugs


Since I am embarking on a 6 month paleo challenge I will be needing to find some new foods that will break up the monotony. Solution: BUGS! I will probably start with meal worms since they are readily available (pet stores) and easy to prepare (they won’t hop around like crickets). After defeating the meal worms I will delve into the wonderful world of crickets. I will post pictures, videos, recipes and reactions to my new food source. Watch out insect kingdom…here I come!

Long days and pleasant nights,

Shoeless Joe

Posted by  |  December 4, 2010 | Categories: Paleo | Leave a comment

Turkey Trot 2010


Written by: Nicky

Happy Thanksgiving! Rich went out this morning and ran Buffalo’s 115th Annual Turkey Trot. He ran the 8K barefoot on a rainy day in 30 degree weather (Farenheit). He went barefoot into Tim Hortons for some black coffee beforehand and went barefoot into Buffalo Convention Center for the after-party.

He said many runners commented on his lack of footwear, but one runner complained that he wasn’t supporting American footwear companies. Actually, Rich’s feet were made in America. I doubt that guy said anything to all the Nike and Adidas wearers out there.

On a lesser note, I ran I 5K around the neighborhood today with my dad (the race was completely sold out). My Fivefinger Flows held up well in the cold and rain. Sometimes I notice my Flows have too much material between the toes, but I had a great minimalist footwear experience for cold weather. I hope they work this well when the temperature plummets to single digits or below. I may have to add a pair of injini socks at that point.

Time for Turkey!

Posted by  |  November 25, 2010 | Categories: Barefoot, Running, Travel | Leave a comment

Paleo Pancakes


Written by: Nicky

I was looking for something new to try for breakfast this week, and I came across this recipe for Almond Banana Pancakes on Mark Sisson’s website, http://www.marksdailyapple.com. The site has tons of primal recipes worth trying. I followed this recipe and the pancakes were absolutely amazing! I think they taste even better than real pancakes.

This recipe is quick and easy. I found that this recipe works well even if you use only 1 banana.

Here’s how I followed Mark’s recipe:

2 bananas

1 egg

1 heaping tablespoon of almond butter

Grass-fed butter or coconut oil

I mashed the bananas with a fork. Then I added an egg and mixed it with the banana using the same fork. Next I added the almond butter. It’s fine to leave some small banana lumps in the batter.

I greased the pan with grass-fed butter. It should work well with coconut oil if you don’t do dairy. Pour some batter onto the skillet (I made each pancake about 4 inches). The key is to cook the pancakes on low heat until the edges round. Then it is safe to flip them.

I served the pancakes with warm blueberries. I added some eggs and sausage on the side. Heaven!

Posted by  |  November 22, 2010 | Categories: Recipes | 1 Comment