Gourmet Caveman Recipes

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Polly
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Gourmet Caveman Recipes

Post by Polly »

Hi All!

As you know, I have had some success with the Caveman (paleo) diet. It is a basic diet, and most recipe suggestions out there are not very creative.

Imagine my glee when I stumbled across the blog of a young lady (age 25) who is on this diet and LOVES to cook. In recent months she has posted some yummy recipes, complete with photos. The recipes contain no grains or dairy. Tonight I am trying the Fennel Roasted Pork Loin. Check it out and see what you think:

www.cavemanfood.blogspot.com/search/label/recipe

Love,

Polly
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Matthew
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Post by Matthew »

Polly

Greetings from my cave to yours.

So great to see you.

What a great blog. So much about my favorite foods. So much about food that continues to make me feel good.

Many of her ideas I don’t even have to try out since they have become part of my favorites. Great minds run..........

I do the zucchini “pasta” a little different. Heat a teaspoon of olive oil and add a few cloves of chopped garlic. Let cook while I julienne part of a carrot. Add the carrot to the garlic with two or three tablespoon of water . Let steam while I julienne a small zucchini and a little onion. Add zucchini and onion Let steam until zucchini is tender. A tasty, colorful, bed for leftover pork, chicken ar seafood. My favorite is to use it for a bed for a seafood fillet that has been “breaded” with finely ground almonds and seasonings and fried in a little olive oil until golden brown.

I do her apple thing but don’t use butter since it is off my list for a long time. Simply slice apples into a frying pan. Add water or organic apple juice . Maybe a pinch of cinnamon and nutmeg. Let cook until almost soft. I like them most when they have just a bit of crisp left. Great with breakfast or with pork chops or for desert. It is more desert with a spoonful of rum in the last few moments of cooking. ;-)

Just discovered a wonderful local sausage company this summer that makes great chorizo along with other natural gluten free soy free sausage. Left over root vegetables cooked up with chorizo in an omelet with fresh fruit on the side has become my decadent Sunday breakfast. Will have to try her idea of poached eggs on top. Looks great with those to beautiful golden eggs in the picture .

Thanks so much for the heads up on the blog. I love finding new people that are on my same path. Good ideas just generate more good ideas.

Look forward to hearing about the pork roast. I will soon try it.

Love,

Matthew
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Post by Polly »

Geetings from my cave back atcha, Matthew!

I thought I'd hear from you on this topic! It is a great blog, isn't it? It will be fun watching it grow. The roast pork loin was excellent last night. I had never used fennel before and I loved it. Almost a licorice-y flavor. The non-grain "stuffing" mixture would be lovely with turkey or chicken too. Along with the pork, we had fresh summer squash (zucchini and yellow) sauteed in olive oil with garlic and onion and sauerkraut cooked with some chopped apple and caraway seeds. Dessert was cantaloupe with fresh blueberries on top.

Re apples, I like to bake them by coring them whole, adding some raisins and maple syrup in the center and then nuking them for about 2 1/2 minutes. Your decadent Sunday breakfast makes me drool. So does your "breaded" seafood over zucchini.

I'll have to try the zucchini pasta. Do you julienne it all from scratch or do you have one of those "spiralizers" she talks about? I like to use spaghetti squash as pasta. It diesn't require any cutting -LOL!

One of the best features of this diet is becoming familiar with new veggies. Don't you agree? My latest favorite is broccoli rabe (rappini) - can't get enough if it. (You know how much I love all leafy greens, but this one is now at the top of my list). I also like okra, as Barbara (blogger) does. And you know that I am a root veggie nut! What are your current favorites?

I've been thinking about hearty soups again with fall coming - especially my puree (meaning blenderized) of root veggies (parsnips, turnips, carrots, sweet potatoes, rutabagas, etc.). A few
days ago I made a mushroom soup using olive oil, onions, garlic, tarragon, chicken stock, a little sherry, and of course, mushrooms. Partially blended it and it was really tasty! Very full of flavor and creamy/chewy. Next time I will try a mixture of different kind of mushrooms. Oh, and I made a wonderful soup last week. Curried Cauliflower! After a day or two I added some salmon to it to make Curried Cauliflower-Salmon Chowder. The cauliflower soup makes a good basic "cream" sauce that could be used for gravies, other soups, etc.........the flavor is so mild that you can hardly tell it's cauliflower. I think I will make up a big batch and freeze portions to pull out and experiment with.

You know, I was just thinking about how truly healthy this diet is - we are eating huge amounts of veggies/fruits, which have so much more nutritional value than grains or dairy. It is certainly fun and almost becomes addictive eating this way, don't you think? The biggest issue is TIME - we had to make a conscious decision that we were worth the time it takes to shop and cook this way. But I don't think either one of us would have it any other way. Right? There's something about all of this that satisfies the soul, if you know what I mean. I never would have guessed when I got MC and found out how many things I couldn't eat, that I would be so happy with my new way of eating. What is that saying - when one door closes, another opens?

Love,

Polly
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Post by Matthew »

Polly

Managed to get the work I was doing at least near the finish line this afternoon and ran out to the farmers markets and places I can buy natural or free range meat.

For me to realistically eat these foods that I have grown to enjoy so much and that I continue to thrive on I have had to change my thinking about food preparation. At it’s most basic never just cook one meal at a time.

Tonight I lit the charcoal to cook some chicken thighs. While waiting for the charcoal to be ready I made a small batch of Elizabeth’s Celery Apple Slaw and prepared every thing for her Peppercorn Crusted Pork Chops.

While everything cooked I steamed enough kale and onions for a couple of days.

All in not much more than an hour. So even with the smallest forethought It is not so difficult at all to have things ready for the next few days in that I will prepare fresh vegetables with the left overs

By the way Peppercorn crusted Pork chops with celery apple slaw and Asparagus from the farmers market was one of those meals that I had to eat slowly just because it was so good.

I had never heard of a "spiralizer". Had to Google it. No, I just have a couple of knives. With a really sharp knife it only takes a few moments to julienne a zucchini. I have an elaborate set of stones for sharpening tools in the shop so my kitchen knives are regularly sharpened . If you you don’t have a way to regularly sharpen knives I would guess that it would be worthwhile too look into some kind of home system. It just makes everything easier with out so many appliances

What can I say. Parsnips, turnips, carrots, sweet potatoes, rutabagas and in that I know they are not root vegetables all the winter squash are wonderful bases for soups stews and thickenings or maybe even tastier when cooked with a roast. As you say they freeze really well. All the better to have a few things set away when their is not always TIME to make things and with just a few small additions you can still have a tasty, nutritious meal.

I have never enjoyed what I eat more than I have in the last few years. I can remember looking at grain free diets , Elaine Gottschall’s “ Breaking the Vicious Cycle” and other diets for IBD and thinking how I could never eat such a restrictive diet, Ha, Ha,Ha. It makes me laugh. The joke was on me. I now eat a greater variety of food than I ever did before MC and truly enjoy it more. If it is an addiction I must say it is a nice one and has the nicest consequences

Yes, when one door closes another opens but in my case I am beginning to consider that maybe several doors have opened.

Thanks so much for your enthusiasm .

It is catching.

Love

Matthew
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Post by Dee »

Great ideas Polly & Matthew!!
I am going to have to investigate the spiraizer gadget.. How fun & interesting it sounds.
I figure I have almost every gadget out there, so why not add another one to play with!! :lol:
I think these posts should be moved to the kitchen so others can try out some of your foodie ideas..

Love
Dee~~~
"What the heart gives away is never gone ... It is kept in the hearts of others."
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Post by Polly »

DEE!

WOW, thanks for the compliment. Sure, move them if you want. I have just never considered myself to be in the same league with creative cooks like you, so I'm honored. Of course, Elizabeth's Caveman blog is a great resource to have at our fingertips. Hey, maybe a section of your kitchen could be a CAVE for related recipes and discussion if there is enough interest.

Love,

Polly
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Post by starfire »

Great idea. :grin:
When the eagles are silent, the parrots begin to jabber"
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Post by kate_ce1995 »

I haven't read every word of this, but I often just shred my zucchini on a cheese grater...coarse side. Sautees up quick that way. I've got fresh zucchini and summer squash coming along in my garden...not quite as prosperously as last year but still getting some. My tomatoes on the other hand are going to town.

Too bad I'm still having issues, so I'm WAY down on my already semi low veggie in take. I've also got a plum tree that is so loaded with fruit that the branches keep breaking. Not sure what to do with those except eat them as they get ripe. They are very small too...apparently that has more to do with living as far north as I do as anything.

I have to find more time to cook. I'm tired of the same things, and I'm having a hard time figuring out why I'm having problems again. Somehow, I've got to find flavorful, but simple.

Katy
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Post by moremuscle »

What's cooking?

Hi cave people - I have been gone from this site for a long time; but you make me feel at home as soon as I log on. You guys continue to inspire. I've missed you!

The Marinated Lamb and Spicy Sweet Eggplant looks delicious - the blogger apologizes for the poor quality of her photo but I immediately felt inspired to try this dish when I saw the picture - looks great to me!

Anything that involves lamb chops and asparagus appeals to me.

Isn't it funny how a diet so seemingly simple and void of "gravy" is so rich and tasty? How could we ever have been afraid to let go of the wheat, the butter, and the extra tasty food additives? Those are the exact things that numb our taste buds and make us unable to sense the nuances of real food.
I can relate to what you mean by the opening of several doors, Matthew.

What a lovely plate of food in the picture of sausage, apples, and ?broccoli.
I need to try it, soon....

I have missed you - I think of you often - I love you - I owe you everything in return for helping me find a way out of deep missery. It's been 4 years.

Love,
Karen
Inspired by the paleolithic diet and lifestyle -
living w/o gluten, dairy, soy, corn, and yeast.
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tex
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Post by tex »

Hi Karen,

It's great to hear from you again. You always were an inspiring writer, and you sure haven't lost your touch. Your success story is without a doubt, one of the most impressive of anyone here, maybe the most impressive. The story about the detective work that you did to track down that soy in the chocolate, even though it wasn't listed on the label, is a true classic, and I've been known to repeat it occasionally, when someone needs some inspiration. I hope you don't mind.

I hope your running times and distances are getting better and better.

Love,
Tex
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It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.
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Post by Matthew »

Wow

The newest recipe leaves me drooling .

Chicken cooked with prosciutto, pan sauce and escarole in a sauce .

Hard to feel deprived with that kind of food.

Elizabeth’s site it worth keeping up with.

Thanks so much. I love new ideas for food combining

From my Cave to yours.

Matthew
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Post by Polly »

WOW! I agree about the latest blog recipe!

Hi Karen!

Love,

Polly
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Post by artteacher »

Bless you for this wonderful topic post.

How you guys been? I missed you.. Karen it's so nice to see your post.

I don't do even sprouted grains now. Up until about June I was eating sprouted grain bread, and doing well, was really happy that I had discovered a way to eat grain) until I got a little crazy with homemade jams and started eating more than one slice a day (Ok, I ate a lot of toast and jam, it was really good jam) I got a little sick, stopped the bread, and all of a sudden was really healthy again. Surprize. (Not really.)

So THANK YOU for the caveman recipes. I'm really in a rut.

I'm convinced we're killing ourselves and our kids with our processed/GMO-d/preserved/enhanced foods.

Love you guys, Marsha
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Post by artteacher »

Hey, I just wanted you to know that I cook a version of the chicken fingers recipe, and it's really good. (My husband eats it, too) I use chicken breasts and pound them to 1/4-1/2 inch thick, dip them in egg, roll in salt/pepper/paprika/almond flour mix, let rest 15 minutes so the mix adheres better, then fry 3 minutes on each side at 325-350 in an electric fry pan. Squeeze lemon on them, and enjoy.

Thank you so much for sharing that website . . . Marsha :ChefStirringPot:
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Post by Polly »

Hi Friends!

Sorry I haven't had much time to post lately.........life remains quite busy.

I made the chicken saltimbocca (sp?) with one substitution and it was heavenly! Didn't have any white wine so used marsala wine. It was incredible!Hubby loved it and has requested it again. What a guy! He now eats rice pasta when we have spaghetti just so we don't have to use two separate pots,
strainers, utensils, etc.

I am doing very well, now that I have eliminated eggs. (I had thought that the D I was having was because of all those antibiotics I had to take during the past year, but now I think it was the eggs. As I mentioned before, I find that I can now tolerate tomatoes again - also citrus and rice (although I have rice only very occasionally - now in pasta with spaghetti).

Love to all,

Polly
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