It has officially started!  The season of gluttony, late nights, early mornings and way too much sugar and stress.  Thanksgiving is a mere 4 weeks away and keeping true to the diet is next to impossible.  So, I thought that I would take the next couple of months and post paleo/primal meals that can help mitigate some of the damage done by the normal holiday staples.  Here are some of the better paleo holiday Thanksgiving side recipes I've prepared:

1.  Paleo Stuffing - I have never been much of a stuffing fan but this recipe is making me a bit of a convert!  It has all the great flavors of stuffing but none of the guilt if you are gluten or grain free eating.  I was really impressed with this meal and I can see it becoming a holiday staple at my house.    

2.  Paleo Sweet Potato Casserole - I really couldn’t tell the difference between non-paleo and this paleo casserole.  It really did taste amazing!      

3.  Paleo Green Bean Casserole - This makes a great substitute for t...

This makes a great substitute for the typical ho-hum green bean casserole that we all grew up eating at the holidays.

1.5 lb. green beans
2 Tbs. Ghee
1 small onion diced
2 cloves garlic
8 oz mushrooms chopped
18 oz Coconut Milk
1 – 1/2 Tbsp Tapioca Starch (Flour)
Sea Salt & Pepper to taste
Fresh pepper
3/4 cups of Almond Meal

Clean and steam green beans.  Boil green beans for 1-2 min then quickly strain and put in cold water to stop cooking once al dente
Put green beans in medium size baking dish arranging them neatly (makes serving easier)
Cook the onions, mushrooms and garlic until soft in the ghee or grass fed butter.  Add to the green beans and arrange evenly
Mix Coconut milk and Tapioca Starch
Pour the mixture over green beans, which should cover them about halfway
Add salt and pepper to whole dish

Bake on 350 for 30 min, add almond meal to top then heat for 3-5 more min.  I turned the broiler on to brown and crisp the Almond Meal
Let dish cool 10 min before serving

We made the parsnips with and without the nutmeg and I have to say that I personally like the ones without much better.  I could still taste the parsnip but other than that the texture and consistency were the same as regular mashed potatoes.  If you are looking to avoid nightshade vegetables (potatoes) then this is a great option! 4 pounds parsnips, peeled and cut into small chunks

3 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup cream, optional
butter and salt to taste
optional: 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg and cinnamon

Combine parsnips with chicken broth and 3 cup water. With a lid, simmer until very tender (about 20 minutes).

Drain off broth. Mash parsnips with a fork or potato masher (a stick blender or food processor save time and effort).
Add enough broth back to the parsnips, and cream if you’re using it until desired consistency is reached.
Add salt and butter taste.  Enjoy!

Gorgonzola Stuffed Chicken Breast with Balsamic sautéed asparagus

This was an amazingly easy primal meal that we threw together last week.  I loved the Gorgonzola stuffed chicken and the combination between pan frying and baking.  You have to be very careful when you make the sauce, which was amazing by the way, because the handle is going to be really hot!  Hope you enjoy this primal meal. 4 chicken breast.

Ingredients: 

• 1/2 pound chilled Gorgonzola cheese crumbles
• 4 tbs. butter or ghee
• 4 tbs garlic
• 3 tbs Onion Toasted and dried (Penzey’s)
• 1/3 cup water
• 5 tbs. balsamic vinegar
• 1 lb asparagus spears  

Preparation:
Gorgonzola Stuffed Chicken Breast

1. Preheat oven to 425°F with rack in middle. 
2. Cut a deep pocket in the chicken breast.
3. Mix 2 tbs Garlic, 2 tbsp Onion, and Cheese.
4. Fill each pocket with one-quarter of cheese mixture.
5. Season chicken all over with 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper.
6. Heat ½ of the butter in an ovenproof heavy skillet over medium-high hea
...

I have never been much of a stuffing fan but this recipe is making me a bit of a convert!  It has all the great flavors of stuffing but none of the guilt if you are gluten or grain free eating.  I was really impressed with this meal and I can see it becoming a holiday staple at my house.

1lb ground pork sausage or ground beef
1/2 Sweet Potato, Chopped
5 pieces of bacon, diced
5 stalks of celery, diced
1 onion, diced
2 apples, diced
2 cups walnut pieces, very finely chopped/ground and soaked overnight (rinse several times before using)
or 1 cup pecans, chopped
1 cup cranberries dried
1 container of mushrooms, diced
2 teaspoons sage leaves, freshly chopped
1 teaspoon thyme, chopped fresh
¼ teaspoon rosemary, finely chopped fresh
½ tsp garlic powder
2 eggs
⅓ cup chicken broth
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cover a baking sheet with foil, throw diced sweet potatoes/yams on it, toss with olive oil and salt and pepper. Bake for about 15-20 minutes or u...

If you have had, or currently have babies, one of the hardest most heart-wrenchingly painful things you can hear is your baby crying uncontrollably.

Especially when they wake up, and you are stumbling, blearily around the house trying to get them fed, hoping it's simply because they're hungry and not that they are constipated and not because they have colic!

Colic is one of the biggest complaints I hear from new moms.  Some patients say their pediatrician has recommended over the counter antacid medication (Zantac) for their colic-stricken baby. 

Before we dive too far into why I think this is stupid, we will talk a bit about what colic is and how to fix it. Colic is estimated to affect about 25% of children in this country.  The problem is that colic is just a primary label for a highly upset baby.  If your baby cries for more than 3 hours, three days a week for more than three weeks then they “have” colic. 

Basically, if your baby cries for prolonged periods of time, even if they...

PCOS: What It Is and Why It Matters

Polycystic Ovary Syndrome affects 5-15% of women of reproductive age—approximately 6 million diagnosed annually in the US. Despite how common it is, most women receive inadequate explanations about what's actually driving their symptoms.

Common manifestations include irregular or absent menstrual cycles, subfertility or infertility, male-pattern hair growth (hirsutism—not just facial hair, but thick growth on arms, chest, abdomen), difficulty losing weight despite caloric restriction, low libido, and persistent acne on face and torso.

PCOS also correlates with increased risk for Type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, sleep apnea, endometrial hyperplasia, and endometrial or ovarian cancers. If you're reading this list and recognizing your own patterns, you're not alone. And more importantly: PCOS isn't a genetic sentence you're stuck with.

The Problem with "It's Genetic"

The prevailing medical explanation for PCOS is genetic predisposition. Thi...

Ultimate Bacon Lovers Dinner I've had a busy week at the office and not been able to cook much this week.  So, Erin took over the cooking duties and she rocked it!   This was a great bacon meal.  She said that it was really easy, and I have to say it was absolutely delicious!
Bacon Green Beans & Almonds Ingredients

• 4 Cups Green Beans
• 6  slices of bacon
• 1/3 cup almond shards
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions

1. Cook bacon.  While making bacon, boil a pot of water for the beans.
2. Boil beans for just a few minutes, then drain and rinse with cold water.
3. Take out bacon and chop, and throw the pieces back in the pan.
4. Place the beans in the pan along with the bacon pieces, mix well, and add salt, bacon, garlic powder, mix again, then add almonds.

Bacon Wrapped Chicken

• 4 Slices of Bacon
• 4 Chicken Breats
• 2 Tblsp Butter
• 4 Slices of Monterey Jack Cheese
• Fresh Chives
• Salt & Pepper to taste

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Flatten Chicken
...

Have you ever wondered where the term bombastic comes from? Paracelsus (Born Philippus Aureolus Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim) was at the very least a very interesting man! 

He was so exuberant and arrogant that his name still has meaning today even if you have never heard of him.  And, he probably had some reason to be arrogant after all he has been credited as the father of toxicology, giving Zinc its name, and the terms “gas,” “chemistry” and “alcohol.” 

Paracelsus was a renowned physician, among other things, that felt the medical practices of his time were barbaric.  He felt that all diseases were the result of an imbalance between the body and nature.

Summing up his philosophy: “Because everything in the universe was interrelated, beneficial medical substances could be found in herbs, minerals and various chemical combinations thereof.

Paracelsus viewed the universe as one coherent organism pervaded by a uniting life-giving spirit, and this in its entirety, Man include...

I am sorry to tell you that, no, there is not any safe meal replacement shake, powder, or bar out there that I have ever found.   These "meal replacements" are highly processed and fractionated “foods” - if you can really call them that.  Also, in my experience, they're usually laced with heavy metals, food allergens, and artificial sweeteners.  

In 2010 Consumer Reports noted significant levels of arsenic, cadmium, lead, and mercury in these powders.   In some of the powders, it was tested to be above the “safe” limits established by the pharmacopeia. 

Granted these are naturally occurring, but literally, those things will kill you, make you sick, and/or crazy! Even if you can find an absolutely pure protein that is tested to be free of heavy metals, these powders are still highly processed, fractionated proteins and during the processing, an isolated formation of MSG is produced. 

This formation of MSG causes a cascade of inflammation that most people don’t need in their lives!  I...