With more and more paleo cookbooks trending toward foodies or autoimmune protocol, sometimes it’s refreshing to find someone regarding food simply as fuel again. But wait, does there have to be such a hard line between foodies and fuelies?

According to The Performance Paleo Cookbook author Stephanie Gaudreau, the answer is no.

A Book for Athletes

Stephanie is the founder of Stupid Easy Paleo and a life-long athlete. She doesn’t just create recipes for athletes – she is one. She understands what athletes need when it comes to paleo eating for performance, and this book revolves completely around that concept. Every recipe indicates the exact macronutrients and there are meal strategies provided depending on the time of day you typically exercise.

“She doesn’t just create recipes for athletes – she is one. She understands what athletes need when it comes to paleo eating for performance, and this book revolves completely around that concept.”

Because the focus of this cookbook is performance and it’s geared toward serious athletes, it’s organized significantly differently than other paleo cookbooks. You may find this annoying at times, but if you keep the food as fuel mindset, it will actually be very useful.

Cider-Braised Cabbage, Apple, and Onion

The recipes are divided into the following categories:

• Pre-Workout Snacks
• Post-Workout Refuel
• Protein-Packed Meals to Build Strength
• Carb-Dense Sides to Maximize Recovery
• Nutrient-Boosting Veggie Sides
• Tasty & Nutritious Treats
• Scrumptious Sauces & Seasoning

At the start of each section, Stephanie explains what makes these recipes perfect for these purposes, what macronutrients they are mainly comprised of, and when they would ideally be eaten for the best training results.

Recipes I tried included:

• Bison and Butternut Skillet
• Mocha-Rubbed Slow Cooker Pot Roast
• Badass Bowl
• Creamy Coconut-Braised Sweet Potatoes
• Cider-Braised Cabbage, Apple, and Onion
• Mocha Protein Almond Butter
• Lemon Vanilla Custard With Blueberry Sauce
• Awesomesauce

Lemon Vanilla Custard With Blueberry Sauce

Be aware that some of the “sweet” recipes might not actually turn out that sweet. There’s not a lot in the way of added sugars even to the items that look like desserts, and often Stephanie relies on the natural sweetness of fruits. This is hardly a bad thing, but definitely something to be aware of if you’re jonesing for a typical paleo dessert.

“There’s not a lot in the way of added sugars even to the items that look like desserts, and often Stephanie relies on the natural sweetness of fruits.”

My husband and I both thoroughly enjoyed all the recipes, and I found them quick and easy to put together. I even made the sweet potatoes for guests recently. In particular, we found the Bison and Butternut Skillet to be great and I’m going to make a triple batch next time I make it so we have plenty of handy leftovers.

And, for real, who wouldn’t want to eat a Badass Bowl covered in Awesomesauce for dinner? I might have to put that one on the menu the next time I have guests just so I can say it out loud.

Precise Measurements

I loved that the recipes in this book include the macronutrient profile. For this to be accurate, though, you’re going to need to measure carefully. Thankfully, Stephanie also provides weights for all the ingredients so you can be precise. This is something I wish all cookbooks would do, macronutrient profile or not. I mean seriously, what is “one carrot?” I could get all Zen here, but instead, I’d just like a weight in grams, thanks.

Bison and Butternut Skillet

Downside

The only negative I have about this book is that there are some obscure ingredients in a few of the recipes. I’d never heard of black garlic before, and I have no idea how to procure cricket protein. I guess I could scour the Internet for one or both of them, but that’s where the negative comes in. Despite being about food-as-fuel, this book does revert to a few pure-foodie moments with the ingredients.

But that’s a tiny negative and you shouldn’t let it sway you from investigating the book. The vast majority of the recipes are uncomplicated and genuinely enjoyable.

“The Performance Paleo Cookbook” is available for $16.69 at Amazon.com.

Further Reading:

• A Paleo Primer: Benefits, Limitations, and Misconceptions
• 2 Tasty Tidbits to Get Your Best Results From Paleo
• The Paleo Mystique: Deciphering “Paleo” Eating
• What’s New on Breaking Muscle Today

The post Better Food, Better Performance: Paleo Fuel for Athletes appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

In 2009, Paleo Eats author Kelly Bejelly learned she was prediabetic.

After years of practicing vegetarianism and veganism in an unhealthy way, she had recently returned to eating some amount of meat, but was still experiencing panic attacks and depression, as well as remaining obese. When she took her diet a step further and experimented with paleo, she lost 65 pounds and her health problems disappeared.

From that experience, Kelly was inspired to start her website, A Girl Worth Saving. A die-hard food lover and admitted sweet tooth, Kelly firmly believes good foods hold a valuable place in our memories and interactions with friends and family. But it’s also her belief that you don’t have to give up your health in exchange for those moments.

About the Book

After a short section dealing with kitchen and paleo basics, Paleo Eats gets right to the good stuff – over a hundred recipes. Kelly grew up on a combination of Filipino and Southern foods, and you can see those influences in her recipes. It makes for a hearty combination of satiating goodies and meals.

The recipes in this book are divided into the following categories:

• The Basics
• Breads, Wraps, and Pastries
• Breakfast
• Mains
• Sides and Salads
• Desserts
• Drinks

One additional section that I found fascinating was the Paleo Baking Tutorial at the back of the book. Here, Kelly gives tips on how to convert non-paleo recipes. She addresses the various paleo flours and how to handle them when it comes to trying them in traditional recipes. She also covers various things that can go wrong in baking and how to troubleshoot them. In addition, there are a number of pages including cooking conversions and substitutions that are useful to cooks and bakers of any level of experience.

Freshly baked raisin bread

Recipes I Tried Included:

• Mushroom Gravy
• Yeasted Biscuits
• Raisin Bread
• Pepper Steak
• Chicken Enchilada Casserole
• Salisbury Steak
• Spinach Nuggets

All the recipes were thoroughly enjoyable, except for the yeasted biscuits. Something went very wrong on that one, but I’m more than willing to bet it was me, not the recipe.

“A die-hard food lover and admitted sweet tooth, Kelly firmly believes good foods hold a valuable place in our memories and interactions with friends and family.”

The spinach nuggets were surprisingly tasty and reminded me of pizza crust. The chicken enchilada casserole was simple and quick to make and will definitely be revisited in our house. And the mushroom gravy made for a great variation on one of my favorite comfort foods, beef stroganoff.

LEFT: Spinach nuggets; RIGHT: Mushroom gravy

Not the Best for Weight Loss

The biggest negative about Paleo Eats isn’t just about the book. It has more to do with the way the paleo movement has developed. In some ways paleo has trended toward more detailed and life-changing adjustments in diet for those with autoimmune and other chronic issues. In other ways, paleo has trended toward concocting slightly different versions of the bad foods you’ve always eaten.

While you might feel better eating nut-flour batter instead of gluten-full batter, it doesn’t make deep frying your foods any more appropriate if you’re trying to lose weight or maintain a certain amount of calories.

“If you’re thinking eating paleo ingredients is the main path to losing weight, a lot of these recipes might not work for you.”

If your goal is to go grain, gluten, and dairy free, then this cookbook has a lot to offer. If you’re thinking eating paleo ingredients is the main path to losing weight, a lot of these recipes might not work for you. While many in the paleo crowd purport that quality is everything, quantity still literally counts for something. Junk food is junk food, regardless of whether you made it with dates or white sugar.

My Recommendation

If the idea of switching to paleo is daunting for you and you have health concerns that are making it imperative you change your diet, then this book could be a useful one for you. While it is full of comfort foods and things I would consider treats, that might be just what you need to make the first step toward healthier eating.

So, if you can’t bear the idea of forsaking your toaster pastries, onion rings, and peach cobbler or you’ve got a family that is yet to be convinced on this whole paleo thing, give this cookbook a try.

“Paleo Eats” is available for $24.33 at Amazon.com.

You’ll Also Enjoy:

• Book Review: “Paleo Comfort Foods”
• Ease Yourself – and Your Family – Into a Paleo Way of Eating
• A Paleo Primer: Benefits, Limitations, and Misconceptions
• What’s New On Breaking Muscle Today

The post Comfort Food Made Healthier: Kelly Bejelly’s New Paleo Cookbook appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

With the popularity of paleo-style eating increasing, more and more newcomers are wanting to give it a try. But transitioning to paleo can be overwhelming. It feels less like a transition, and more like a wholesale change of everything you’ve ever eaten and ever done. What if you don’t even spend much time in your kitchen to begin with? And now you have to take pains to shop properly and cook?

The “Real Life Paleo” Solution

Stacy Toth and Matt McCarry are the authors of a new cookbook called Real Life Paleo. As the writing team behind the blog Paleo Parents, they understand how challenging it can be to incorporate paleo eating into a busy lifestyle, especially one with children. So their book represents a three-phase approach to paleo nutrition, with real people and real problems in mind.

When Stacy and Matt applied their approach to themselves and their children, they lost over 200lbs combined and improved their gut health, depression and anxiety, asthma, ADD, and allergies. According to them, their oldest even went from being a problem child in school to the best-behaved kid in his class.

Stacy and Matt felt the popular thirty-day paleo programs were too fast of a transition for their family, so took a slower route. To teach other people how to change their families like they did, they outline three phases:

1. Swap – Switch to healthier versions of what you’re eating
2. Remove – Eliminate all the non-paleo foods in your diet
3. Heal – Add in healthy foods and activities

The book has sections dedicated to each of these phases, designed to walk you through the process and achieve success. Suggestions are given to help make shopping easier and grocery lists are provided. In the swap phase, there is a chart outlining what you might be currently eating and what the “better” and “best” choices are for replacements. They also provide ideas on how to eat out without getting frustrated, going hungry, or giving in.

Navigating the Kitchen as a Beginner

As the head of a busy household, you might not be currently spending a lot of time in the kitchen. Or maybe you’ve just never enjoyed spending time in the kitchen. Learning cooking skills can be an obstacle for anyone trying paleo.

To help you overcome that obstacle, this book includes a lot of tips on how to prepare foods, how to save time preparing foods, and how to put whole meals together using the recipes in the book. The meal ideas even include information on what you can make ahead of time and what you can do with the leftovers.

“My experience of the recipes was that they were simple, easy to understand, and generally easy to put together.”

The meal ideas and plans are also all organized by which phase of the three-phase plan they fall under. So you can easily coordinate your progress with the appropriate meals. You can also download coordinating shopping lists for each plan.

At the back of the book, you’ll find handy pullout guides you can post in your kitchen as reminders to help you learn all the ins and outs of paleo. There are also a few pages that contain charts outlining which recipes are egg free, nut free, and/or nightshade free.

LEFT: Juicy Pot Roast; CENTER: Creamed Kale; RIGHT: Not Beanie Weenies

What You’ll Find

There are 175 recipes in this book, covering a broad range of foods. At the start of each recipe chapter, a chart indicates which recipes take under thirty minutes, have fewer than five ingredients, are one pot, are good for holidays, or are on-the-go. Even though I work from home and don’t have kids, I still found that information useful. Some days you just don’t have the time or don’t want to deal with dishes.

The recipes are divided into the following categories:

• Condiments, Sauces, and Dips
• Breakfast
• Snacks and On-the-Go
• Childhood Favorites
• Appetizers
• Sides
• Drinks
• Mains
• Sweets and Treats

Recipes I tried included:

• Apple and Pumpkin Butters
• Carolina Style Sauce
• Not Beanie Weenies
• Creamed Kale
• Juicy Pot Roast
• Mongolian Beef
• Slow-Roasted Pork Shoulder
• Brisket With Onion Jam
• Creamy Coconut Chocolate Chip Macaroons

My experience of the recipes was that they were simple, easy to understand, and generally easy to put together. The Mongolian Beef was probably the most complicated recipe of the ones I tried, and even that wasn’t too daunting at all.

My husband and I enjoyed every one of the recipes, and we got a real kick out of the Not Beanie Weenies, I must say. We might not have kids, but we still enjoyed the “Childhood Favorites” plenty. And even though I’m technically done testing out this cookbook, I still have a number of recipes I plan to try. The Green Onion and Bacon Mac ‘n’ Cheese is calling to me.

One Downside

My only pet peeve with this book was the lack of time estimates on the recipes. While recipes that take under thirty minutes are marked, there is no other indication of how long anything might take. This is one of the first things I check when preparing to cook, so I can plan out my day and not wind up eating dinner at midnight, so it would have been nice information to have.

My Recommendation

This is a great general cookbook for anyone new to paleo, but its strength really lies in its orientation toward the family. Throughout the book, Stacy and Matt revisit the idea of enrolling your kids into this whole paleo process. They provide ideas on healthy family activities, as well as tips on how to get your kids on board with the food itself. So if you’re looking to transform not only yourself, but everyone in your household, this book would be a good choice.

“Real Life Paleo” is available for $25.98 at Amazon.com.

You’ll Also Enjoy:

• The Paleo Mystique: Deciphering “Paleo” Eating
• A Paleo Primer: Benefits, Limitations, and Misconceptions
• Book Review: “Beyond Bacon”
• What’s New On Breaking Muscle Today

The post Ease Yourself – and Your Family – Into a Paleo Way of Eating appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

Sarah Ballantyne is known as The Paleo Mom and as the co-host of The Paleo View. She is also known for her ability to translate scientific concepts into layman’s terms. This is due in part to her doctorate degree in medical biophysics and in part to her years of personal exploration and experimentation into the relationship between diet and health.

About the Book

Sarah’s first book, The Paleo Approach, looked at this relationship in an in-depth way. It used graphs, charts, and science to guide readers in gaining an understanding of their immune and digestive symptoms, how to determine if they had a problem themselves, and also how to heal those problems through nutrition. The biggest complaint readers had about the book was a lack of a recipe section.

“If you are dealing with some form of autoimmune disease, this book, the science in it, and the recipes it provides could very well change everything for you.”

So now, here is the “recipe section” – an entire book full of them, in fact. In what is essentially a sequel to her original book, Sarah shares over 150 recipes. She also provides six weeks worth of meal plans and coordinating shopping lists, with handy pull-out versions to take to the store or post in your kitchen, as well.

Bacon-Apple Chicken Burgers with Maple-Cranberry Sauce

What You’ll Find in This Book

Aside from the standard kitchen tips most cookbooks contain, Sarah includes less common, but highly useful information like how to store all these vegetables you’re going to be buying. In fact, there are four pages of guidance on food storage. For someone new to cooking with fresh, whole foods, this is great information that might not be as easy to find or learn as you might think.

Other bits of useful info include how to season cast-iron cookware, how to freeze fresh herbs, and three pages of suggested cooking times for different cuts of meats.

Unique Details

Since this cookbook is oriented around the idea of eliminating autoimmune issues and diseases through diet, it is full of information for those with food sensitivities. In the first part of the book, Sarah includes a detailed outline of how make substitutions for high-FODMAP ingredients. Each recipe also includes tips for those avoiding FODMAPs.

“With just over 150 recipes, Sarah manages to cover a lot of ground and include a massive array of ingredients.”

And since part of being healthy and having healthy guts is good nutrition, Sarah also provides the full nutrition facts for each recipe. Everything from macronutrients to vitamins and minerals. This information is almost always lacking in cookbooks, even those intended for healthy eating, so enjoyed getting an idea of my caloric and nutrient intake with these meals.

Rustic Bison Pot Roast

Recipes

The recipes are divided into the following categories:

• Kitchen Staples
• Breakfast Foods
• Appetizers, Salads, and Snacks
• Soups and Stews
• Meat and Poultry
• Fish and Shellfish
• Offal
• Side Dishes
• Sweet Treats and Beverages

Recipes I tried included:

• Pot Sticker Meatballs
• Rustic Bison Pot Roast
• Bacon-Apple Chicken Burgers With Maple-Cranberry Sauce
• Pork Pie-Stuffed Acorn Squash
• Steak and Kidney Pot Pie
• Balsamic-Roasted Beets
• Kufu
• Spiced Kabocha Squash

Left: Stuffed Acorn Squash; Right: Spiced Kabocha Squash

Diverse Ingredients

I enjoyed the recipes in this cookbook, although I wouldn’t say I was blown away by the recipes. But that’s not a bad thing. With just over 150 recipes, Sarah manages to cover a lot of ground and include a massive array of ingredients. Plus, not everybody wants to cook complicated recipes, so while these recipes might not always be gourmet, they are all very approachable for the vast majority of people venturing into their kitchens.

The one drawback to this book would actually be its wide scope. Because Sarah advocates a wide range of foods, and sometimes foods that people might not be used to eating (e.g., calamari or pork jowl), you might not get excited about all the recipes. Or you simply might not have easy access to those type of ingredients.

I would encourage anyone using this cookbook to explore, though. Be open to trying new ingredients and new flavors. How do you know you don’t like offal? Some of Sarah’s recipes might make you change your mind. And seriously, kufu? You may not have heard of it, but you really can’t go wrong in combining plantains and bacon, trust me.

Kufu

Perfect for Beginners

Like Sarah’s first book, this cookbook is full of colorful graphics. From page to page, the layout stays interesting, colorful, and easy to read. While this is beneficial to anyone seeking to learn more, the presentation lends itself particularly to those who are just beginning their journey toward healing their guts and changing their diets.

“For someone new to cooking with fresh, whole foods, this is great information that might not be as easy to find or learn as you might think.”

This book is dense with information – and I mean really dense, with a lot of science – but the layout keeps it from feeling daunting. You could read every word on the page, or you could flip through and look at the variety of tips, insets, and lists and still come away with a ton of new knowledge.

My Recommendation

And in the end, I think this cookbook makes for a fantastic first book for someone making a serious exploration into his or her health. If you are dealing with some form of autoimmune disease, this book, the science in it, and the recipes it provides could very well change everything for you. If you read it and really consider what it’s suggesting, it will empower you around your body, your health, and your food.

“The Paleo Approach Cookbook” is available for $26.02 at Amazon.com.

The post “The Paleo Approach Cookbook” (Book Review) appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

Peter Servold is the man behind the company Pete’s Paleo. His company is a delivery service that provides ready-to-eat meals to people all over the United States.

A career chef, with the accompanying not-so-healthy lifestyle and a lifelong penchant for partying, Peter discovered CrossFit and paleo in 2010. He credits both with saving him from what doctors had diagnosed as chronic pericarditis (inflammation of the sac around your heart). And he credits his girlfriend with getting him to try both.

The recipes in this cookbook are technique heavy. In fact, Peter’s intention is to wean you away from recipes and toward technique, with the idea in mind that if you have an arsenal of skills and techniques in the kitchen, then you can create something with any ingredients on hand or in season. You are not beholden to a set of ingredients and instructions.

Cooking Like a Chef

So, as you work your way through this book, keep in mind that you are learning new techniques along the way. Thankfully, Peter rated the recipes according to difficulty level, so you can ease your way into the learning process. There are plenty of recipes that fall under easy or medium difficulty, as well, so it’s not like this book is only for chefs.

In addition, Peter’s chef background means he is obsessed with proper preparations. So, the first portion of this book is devoted to helping you plan out how to prep for your meal, how to equip your kitchen, and how to accomplish basic kitchen tasks.

A Seasonal Approach

As indicated by the title of the book, it’s organized around the four seasons, starting with the spring. The idea being that eating foods during their appropriate seasons guarantees you the best experience both as far as nutrition and taste.

In a brief intro to each section, Peter covers what makes cooking during that season unique. Each season also has an accompanying map of the United States indicated what produce is in season in that region.

The majority of the recipes also include some sort of technical tip about cooking or food prepartion. These tips include how to blanche properly, how to grate ginger, how to chiffonade, how to cook carrots sous vide, and much more.

In addition to the seasons chapters, there are also chapters for condiment and stock recipes. As a recreational mushroom hunter, I also found Peter’s including of a guide to mushrooms to be a fun section that popped up later in the book, as well.

Toward the end of the book there are also illustrations of the classic cuts of beef, pork, and lamb, as well as a chart outlining the roasting times of a couple dozen different vegetables. And at the very end of the book are both a photo index and traditional index, which makes looking up ingredients and picking out recipes very simple.

How To Use Your CSA Box

Halfway through the book, between summer and fall, is a chapter on cooking through your CSA box. If you’ve never heard of CSAs, it stands for “community supported agriculture.” Typically a CSA is something you subscribe to through a local farm that entitles you to a weekly box of fresh produce.

The downside of CSAs for many people is that the contents of the box might wind up being completely unfamiliar to them. You don’t know what you’re going to get from week to week and it may include things you’ve never cooked or even eaten before.

So, in the CSA chapter, Peter outlines how to sort through and identify all your veggies, how to prioritize which ones to eat first, and how to prepare and cook them. For anyone curious about CSAs, but daunted by strange foods, this chapter is a great inclusion. At the end of the book, Peter also includes a list of CSAs from around the country, many of which also provide pastured proteins (i.e. critters).

My Experience of the Book

Recipes I tried included:

• Pork Pastor
• Braised Pork and BBQ Sauce
• Garlicky Burgers and Sweet Potato Hash
• Roasted Acorn Squash with Fresh Sage
• Beg Alicha
• Atkilt
• Cauliflower Dumplings
• Lamb Meatballs
• Artichoke and Tomato Sauce, Spread, Dip

The only recipe that didn’t work for me was the Cauliflower Dumplings. They just weren’t that interesting and the texture was a bit soggy and lifeless. All of the other recipes were straight-up fantastic. According to my husband, the lamb meatballs were the best he’s ever had, and I’ve been making big batches of the sweet potato hash for weeks now.

In particular, I enjoyed making the Ethiopian dishes – beg alicha and atkilt – which are no doubt inspired by Peter’s years working in an Ethiopian restaurant. These recipes were very simple to prepare and incredibly tasty. I do think it’s funny that in the directions for the Ethiopian recipes that the author uses the phrase “your local Ethiopian store.” To me, that points to one of the downfalls of the book, which is the assumption that you have access to those sorts of things. In reality, most people will most likely end up shopping for some of the more exotic ingredients on Amazon.

That being said, the overall message of this book is to eat local and to think on the level of quality ingredients. I think for anyone who aspires to a higher level of proficiency in the kitchen, this a great approach and mindset. And if you get to eat some great recipes along your way to learning to not need recipes, all the better.

“Paleo by Season” is available for $25.79 at Amazon.com.

The post “Paleo By Season” (Book Review) appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

When I was a teenager rabid for books and exploring new genres, I used to love to buy anthologies. It was a great way to discover new authors and find ones whose work I wanted to read further. This is how I think of the Paleo Magazine Readers’ Favorites Cookbook, as well. The organization of the book is a little bit, well, unorganized, in my opinion, so I’ll go through it section by section to explain.

The first few chapters are written by Tony Federico and unlike most paleo cookbooks, he doesn’t talk so much about what you should or shouldn’t eat. Instead, he gives us a history of how the changes in our food production have directly affected our health, our social interactions, and our families. It is an interesting and apt discussion given that the intention of this book is to bring people together in the paleo community through their favorite recipes.

There are two sets of recipes in the book. First, there is a small collection of recipes straight from Paleo Magazine. Then there is the paleo community section, which contains the majority of the recipes. These community recipes come from a diverse group of mainly bloggers and cookbook authors. While some of the contributors will definitely be familiar to you, I’m willing to bet that more than a couple of the names will be new to you. In addition to recipes, all the contributors also share their personal stories explaining how they came to be part of the paleo community and what the lifestyle has done for them. I found these stories to be a nice way to get to know each recipe author’s expertise and see why I might want to seek out more from him or her.

Every recipe in the book also has a gorgeous full-page photo accompanying it. These are the work of Savannah Wishart, and she makes everything look absolutely mouth watering. And speaking of photos, the book does have a photo recipe index right towards the front, which I very much appreciated. Given how the book is, or rather isn’t, organized, I found it especially helpful for deciding which recipes to test. While the photo index is arranged by breakfast, entrees, and other categories, the recipes themselves seem to be in no discernable or logical order.

The recipes I made included:

• Pork Tenderloin With Hearty Spice Rub
• Roasted Halibut With Green Olive Relish
• Baked Cinnamon Fennel and Pears
• Cinnamon Crumble Coffee Cake
• Brownies

The recipes are as varied as the contributors. And by that I mean, some of the recipes are fantastic and others I wouldn’t get too excited about, for various reasons. For example, the Baked Cinnamon Fennel and Pears recipe was different and fantastic, but the Pork Tenderloin With Hearty Spice Rub recipe mysteriously had no measurements for any of the ingredients. That being said, both the Cinnamon Crumble Coffee Cake (from Erin Walker) and the Brownies (from none other than Elana Amsterdam) were both ridiculously good.

But that takes me right back to the short story analogy. When you buy an anthology of any sort, you’re bound to discover things you like and things you dislike, things that are a good fit for you, and things that just sort of make you shrug. This filtering process is, in fact, part of the point of reading a collection. So think of this cookbook in the same light. I wouldn’t recommend this book as a regular cookbook, but if you’re looking for new bloggers, chefs, and bakers who you might want to follow more in depth, then it does provide a broad and interesting perspective on some names that may be new to you. (And if you do buy this book, definitely do make Elana’s brownies. You won’t be sorry.)

“Paleo Magazine Readers’ Favorites Cookbook” is available for $14.89 at Amazon.com.

The post “Paleo Magazine Readers’ Favorites Cookbook” (Book Review) appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

One of the growing problems I see with the use of the word “paleo” is that a lot of things get called paleo these days that aren’t really paleo. What I mean is, people can find a way to make junk food out of just about anything, even in the absence of gluten, grains, and dairy. But the absence of those things does not make the item healthy, nor does it make it authentically paleo. Dessert is dessert, no matter what you make it out of.

In that regard, I find the secondary title to The Paleo Chocolate Lover’s Cookbook more appropriate: “80 Gluten-Free Treats for Breakfast & Dessert.” That much is definitely true – these are gluten-free treats indeed. Written by Kelly Brozyna, founder of The Spunky Coconut blog, this cookbook contains eighty grain-free, legume-free, and dairy-free recipes in the following categories:

• 

  Breakfast

• Cake
• Cookies
• Puddings and Pies
• Ice Cream
• Drinks
• Candy
• Savory Dishes

Through the use of paleo ingredients, the recipes in this cookbook are protein and fat dense, while staying relatively low in sugar by using stevia as a sweetener. That does not mean the recipes are not calorically dense, though, nor does it mean they are completely free of natural sugars like honey. So, eater beware. And to be fair, Kelly herself says these recipes are not meant to be consumed regularly, but to serve as treats for those afflicted with food allergies, celiac disease, autism, and auto-immune disorders where “cheating” is simply not an option.

One thing I enjoyed about this book was gaining an education in chocolate. Early on the book dives into the history of chocolate, the science of how it’s made, and the ethical issues involved in its production. Those who love chocolate but who have not as of yet totally geeked out on the topic will likely find this an interesting section of the book. I found it highly informative as to the choices I would make going forward in the grocery store, both as someone interested in taste and in supporting good business practices.

The recipes themselves range in level of complexity, from simple muffins to some elaborate-looking cakes and concoctions. Personally, I think this makes the cookbook more appealing as bakers of all different experience levels could find it useful. I made a few of the dessert recipes and found them enjoyable, but I was also pleasantly surprised at the savory recipes. They were not overly chocolaty, but simply quite flavorful. So, really, this book gives you an excuse to eat chocolate at any time of day, which for some people will be a great attribute.

In addition, the graphic design and photography in this cookbook are both well thought out and beautiful, with each recipe including a full-page photo. The book does fall victim to what seems to be a common issue with paleo cookbooks, though, which is that it is lacking a useful contents listing or index. For example, despite the fact the book has an entire section dedicated to cookies, the word “cookies” is not listed in the index, and there is no one place in the book where all the recipes are listed. I would suggest that when you first get the book you put some sort of tabs or markers on each section’s recipe list so you can at least flip to those easily for perusal.

In the end, I would definitely put The Paleo Chocolate Lover’s Cookbook under the category of “specialty” cookbooks. If you’re new to paleo, then this is not a must-buy item. But if you’ve been at paleo for a while and want to expand your recipe library – especially if you’re a chocolate lover and particularly if you want recipes for special occasions – then this could be a great resource for you. To frame it another way, if you’re at your goal body composition and you want to treat yourself from time to time, this cookbook is a great source of fabulous recipes. If you are not at your goal weight, you shouldn’t even open this cookbook because it will be sheer torture looking through the beautiful recipes and photos.

“The Paleo Chocolate Lover’s Cookbook” is available for $22.09 at Amazon.com.

Want a taste of this cookbook? Try these recipes for Salted Caramel and Salted Caramel Bacon Bark:

Salted Caramel

Ingredients

• 1 cup canned full-fat coconut milk
• 1 cup (156 g) coconut sugar
• ¼ teaspoon sea salt

Method

1. In a heavy-bottomed pot that is about 7″ wide x 3″ deep, add the coconut milk, coconut sugar, and salt.
2. Whisk to combine the ingredients, and turn on the heat. Bring the mixture to a boil, watching carefully so that it doesn’t boil over. Boil over medium heat for 15 minutes.
3. Reduce the heat to low, and simmer for 5 minutes, watching carefully to make sure that it doesn’t burn. If it begins to burn, the edges will turn dry and black.
4. Wear gloves to pour the caramel into a small bowl, and stir periodically as it cools to room temperature. Don’t wash the pot just yet; you may need it again.
5. If the caramel isn’t thick (similar to molasses) when it reaches room temperature (after about 20 minutes), pour it back into the pot, and let it simmer over the lowest heat possible for another 3-5 minutes.
6. Wear gloves to pour the caramel back into the small bowl, and stir periodically as it cools to room temperature. Store covered at room temperature.
7. To reheat leftover caramel (such as for dipping apples or pouring over ice cream), put the dish of caramel in a larger dish of very hot water, and cover it for 15 minutes. If needed, add more hot water, and repeat.

Makes about 1 cup.

Salted Caramel Bacon Bark

Ingredients

• ½ batch of Salted Caramel (above)*
• 6 ounces dark chocolate
• 4 strips of crisp cooked bacon

*Make the whole batch of caramel, but use only half in the bacon bark.

1. Make the Salted Caramel, and let it cool almost to room temperature.
2. Line an 8″ x 8″ dish with a piece of unbleached parchment paper big enough to cover the bottom and go up the sides. Pinch the corners to help it stay in place, and set the dish aside.
3. Over a double boiler, melt the chocolate, and pour it into the prepared dish.
4. Allow the chocolate to cool to room temperature on the counter.
5. Then place it in the freezer until hard.
6. Drizzle the caramel over the chocolate, and sprinkle the top with crumbled crisp bacon.
7. Freeze the candy until it is hard enough to break into bark. You can then store it in the freezer or the refrigerator.

Makes 8 servings.

The post Book Review: “The Paleo Chocolate Lover’s Cookbook” by Kelly V. Brozyna appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

When my family first started eating paleo, I shied away from anything that seemed like “imitation” food. I thought the idea of lettuce wraps and so-called noodles made with squash was ridiculous. There’s just no way I would have been able to replace a craving for my favorite greasy pizza with some paleo version made with fake cauliflower crust and nut cheese. Sorry paleo diet, but you are no match for Papa John’s.

Since then, I’ve changed my mind about paleo recipes that imitate non-paleo foods, but I still had a chuckle when I received a copy of Paleo Lunches and Breakfasts On the Go by Diana Rodgers of Radiance Nutrition. There are several entire chapters devoted to lettuce wraps and paleo pancakes, both of which I had so stubbornly scoffed at in the past. However, contrary to my previous opinion, the recipes are delicious.

I give this book an A+ for inspiring morning and afternoon kitchen creativity. The problem with avoiding the common paleo imitation recipes was that I quickly found myself at a loss for meals to replace things like sandwiches and wraps, especially when it came time for breakfast and lunch. I’ve always found it much easier to prepare paleo dinners than to come up with creative ways to feed myself and my family for breakfast and lunch.

If you are in a similar bind, Paleo Lunches and Breakfasts on the Go will not disappoint. Here are a few of the recipes I’ve tried:

• Turkey Apple Bacon Wrap with Lemon Herb Sauce
• Chicken Cranberry Salad and Fennel Wrap
• Pineapple Bacon and Chicken Wrap
• Prosciutto and Fig Salad (make sure you include the hazelnuts!)
• Asian Chicken “Noodle” Bowl
• Cherry Tarragon Breakfast Sausages
• Curried Green Eggs and Ham
• Tortilla Espanola With Chorizo
• Bacon, Lemon and Greens Egg Muffins

I’ve explored a good variety of paleo cookbooks at this point, and it’s amazing to me how innovative the good paleo cookbook writersout there continue to be. If you’re new to the paleo diet, Paleo Lunches and Breakfasts on the Go will help you jump in the deep end with creative recipes and ingredient combinations. Although it is a little on the short side, the “Entry-Level Essentials” chapter is full of ideas for simple, quick meals and snacks that are beginner-friendly.

If you’re a more advanced paleo cook looking for new ways to use new ingredients, I recommend this book as well, since the recipes tend to be on the more complex side as far as ingredients go. Many of the recipes use less common ingredients like duck, goat, or out-of-the-ordinary herbs and vegetables.

I have a few minor complaints about this book, but none of them are deal breakers. First, I wish there were more photos. Although the photos in the book are quite good, I found myself wanting to see more of them. Second, part of the title is “On the Go.” Don’t mistake that for “Quick and Easy.” Although once prepared the recipes are easy to eat on the go, they’re not necessarily easy to prepare for the novice cook.

Like I said, none of these considerations are deal breakers, though. I look forward to exploring more recipes from this book. Overall, if you’re looking for a paleo resource to spice up your mornings and afternoons, Paleo Breakfasts and Lunches on the Go will not let you down.

“Paleo Lunches and Breakfasts on the Go” is available for $15.62 at Amazon.com.

The post Book Review: “Paleo Lunches and Breakfasts on the Go” by Diana Rodgers appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

I knew when I was flipping through my copy of The Paleo Slow Cooker by Arsy Vartanian and it fell open to the Fesenjan recipe that I was going to love this cookbook. Arsy is the creator of Rubies & Radishes (a Breaking Muscle Top 10 Fitness Blog winner) and The Paleo Slow Cooker is her first foray in the world of paleo cookbooks. It is a gorgeous hardcover that includes 125 recipes and a primer on paleo nutrition.

Paleo cookbooks sometimes fall into the trap of being a collection of grilled meats and veggies with some sort of bacon-mocha concoction of a dessert tagged onto the end. This book is as far from that as is physically possible. If you’re looking for recipes to keep paleo “interesting” then this is the book for you. This is a multi-cultural cookbook with Asian, Persian, Mediterranean, Southern, and Latin dishes, covering everything from finger-food appetizers, to main courses, to side dishes, to desserts. A number of the recipes are Arsy’s paleo take on family recipes passed down by mother.

But don’t get nervous that “interesting” also means “difficult.” The recipes in this cookbook couldn’t be simpler to prepare. Though Arsy almost always recommends browning meat before throwing it into the slow cooker, for the most part preparation of these meals is quick and easy. In fact, the recipes are great for impressing friends and family, because they will never believe preparing dinner was as simple as it actually was.

Some of the recipes I tried included:

• Beef and Bok Choy
• Oxtail Soup
• Paleo Beef Casserole
• Fesenjan (Persian Chicken with Pomegranate and Walnut)
• Lamb with Pomegranate Sauce
• Jambalaya
• Picadillo
• Ropa Vieja
• Pork Chops in Fig Sauce
• Cauliflower Chicken Curry
• Red Cabbage and Apple
• Paleo Banana Coconut Foster

Literally with every recipe my fiancé would say, “This is the best thing you’ve made yet!” And there are still easily another twenty recipes that I intend to try. I know without a doubt that a number of these dishes will become staples in my weekly meal planning.

Now, to the part of the review I don’t actually want to write. This book is not well edited, and it’s really a shame. For a book that at first glance appears rather luxurious, it seems that care was not taken by the publishers to proofread it properly. There are numerous typos and errors. While this might not seem like a big deal, when it happens in the middle of a recipe – directions being confusing or out of order, or cooking temperature being omitted – it can leave you mystified as to what the next step needs to be.

Given that I have a fair number of hours in the kitchen at this point, I was able to navigate my way around the editing issues. I am not sure how it might feel for someone new to the kitchen, though. Similarly, the recipes in the book include a lot of nightshades, and while mention is made that some people may want to reduce or eliminate nightshades, it would have been useful to provide more specific direction on how to handle reducing nightshades while keeping the integrity of the recipe. But that’s a pretty small and specific issue that won’t affect most people.

And as frustrating as the lack of proper proofreading might be at times in this book, I would hate to have it be a reason for someone not to purchase it. Part of the frustration it caused for me was simply because I felt the content of this cookbook was so wonderful that the presentation didn’t do it justice. So, if any of you buy this book feel free to email me or Facebook me for interpretation of anything you don’t understand. Seriously. The recipes are amazing and they’re worth any bit of momentary confusion.

“The Paleo Slow Cooker” is available for $15.84 at Amazon.com.

The post Book Review: “The Paleo Slow Cooker” by Arsy Vartanian appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

For Christmas this year I bought my parents two books – one was the Paleo Comfort Foods cookbook and the other was Practical Paleo. I hesitate to call Practical Paleo simply a cookbook, because it provides so much more information than just recipes. In fact the reason I chose it for my parents is because of the broad-spectrum approach the book takes to explaining why and how you should and could apply paleo eating.

The first half of Practical Paleo is more of an infographic lesson in science and nutrition than a cookbook. Whereas many paleo cookbooks will have a chapter or section explaining the basics of the philosophy, Practical Paleo really dives into the nuts and bolts. But due to the graphic design and layout, the book delivers this information in an intellectually accessible and visually pleasing way. Insets, lists, tear-out guides and charts, and beautiful photos all build together to make the science clear and application simple.

After explaining the science of paleo, leaky gut, saponins, smoke points of oils, the color of your poop, and a plethora of other things, the author gets into the individual reasons that you the reader might consider taking on a paleo lifestyle. This begins the second section of the book, which is comprised of the 30-Day Meal Plans.

The secondary title of this book is A Customized Approach to Health and a Whole-Foods Lifestyle and it’s the 30-day meal plans that fulfill on this premise. There are eleven different meal plans outlined, each based on a different goal or health priority. Each meal plan not only includes an outline of breakfast, lunch, and dinner meals (all referencing recipes in the third and final section of the book), but also recommends specific supplements, herbs, and foods for your goals. There is also an accompanying list of foods to avoid and lifestyle changes to incorporate.

The following meal plans are included in the book:

• Autoimmune Conditions
• Blood Sugar Regulation
• Digestive Health
• Thryoid Health
• Multiple Sclerosis, Fibromyalgia, and Chronic Fatigue
• Neurological Health
• Heart Health
• Cancer Recovery
• Athletic Performance
• Fat Loss
• Squeaky Clean Paleo

I am on the opinion that even if you didn’t follow the exact meal plan, you could still gain a lot by taking on the recommendation for supplements, herbs, and foods to avoid, based on your particular goal.

Then in the third section of the book come the actual recipes for the meal plans and much more. There are over 120 recipes, many of which are suitable for people still familiarizing themselves with the kitchen. To that point, the book also includes some basics on knife skills and recipes for pantry staples like spice blends and bone broth.

The one thing I actually found annoying with the book was the spice blends. I don’t particularly like when I read a recipe and it requires me to first make other recipes. Throughout this book the recipes list ingredients such as “2 tablespoons Chorizo Spice Blend.” When you turn to the page with the spice blend you discover a recipe that results in 6 tablespoons of the blend. So you are left with the dilemma of either making more spice blend than you’re going to use – and wasting it if you don’t like it, or at the very least using up a large supply of spices that’s going to sit for a while – or doing some math gymnastics. What is one-third of a half-tablespoon, anyway? I found this annoying enough that I avoided recipes that required it whenever possible.

That being said, all of the recipes I tried were good. They included:

• Cumin Spiced Pork Tenderloin with Root Vegetables
• Quick and Easy Salmon Cakes
• Thanksgiving Stuffing Meatballs
• Chorizo Meatballs
• Sweet and Savory Potatoes
• Baked Beets with Fennel
• Sauteed Red Cabbage with Onions and Apples

We enjoyed all the recipes and the Sweet and Savory Potatoes have become a weekly habit in our household now. The recipes cover a wide range of styles and flavors and I think can keep a more accomplished cook interested, as well as not overwhelm a new cook. This is not, however, my favorite book of recipes, nor would it be based on the recipes alone that I would recommend it.

In the end, it was the first section of this book explaining the “why” and “how” of paleo that was impressive. I would recommend every coach I know purchase a copy to have on hand in your gym library. Years ago I used to request that all my clients purchase Paul Chek’s How to Eat, Move, and Be Healthy! After reading Practical Paleo, this is what I would now recommend instead. However, like I did with my parents, I would encourage my client to buy a second cookbook to flesh out the recipe aspect.

“Practical Paleo” is available for $23.13 at Amazon.com.

The post Book Review: “Practical Paleo” by Diane Sanfilippo appeared first on Breaking Muscle.