5 Paleo foods I love most... at the moment.

This week my great-grandmother passed away. She was very old and led a wonderful life, but nonetheless, she was the matriarch of our family and loved immensely by family and friends alike. 

In my family, like most families, part of the grieving process is eating, and lots of it. And of course, it’s not eating things that are particularly good for you. For the first time in a very good while I ate lasagna, rolls, cookies, rolled tacos, chocolate cake, macaroni and cheese, a pulled pork sandwich, uhhh.... get the picture? It’s been a pretty awful week for Em’s guts. A few nights ago, my insides finally just had enough and I am back on the wagon of good, nutritious foods. 

I thought I’d give a list, just off the top of my head, of my favorite paleo/real food items that I will be eating in great quantities the next few weeks to heal and nourish my body after this time of poor eating!

1. Bone broth. I just made this for the first time last week and it’s hugely hugely healthy. You cook beef marrow bones in the crock pot for at least 24 hours (I did mine for about 30 hours) with some hunks of carrot, celery, hunks or garlic, apple cider vinegar, and water. Cooking it low and slow like this helps extract all the wonderful vitamins and minerals and collagen from the bones. The collagen is wonderful for your skin and gut health (just what I need), and the amino acids that are extracted from the bones help the body detoxify. Can’t beat it!
2. Coconut yogurt. I don’t handle dairy very well. In fact I never have. However, I feel very fortunate to have discovered coconut yogurt. It is delicious and you still get the benefits of the live, active cultures that good-quality yogurt contains, without any of the adverse effects that dairy may bring.
3. Kombucha. My hubs thinks I’m crazy for this one but I love love love kombucha and it has awesome gut-healing properties. It is a fermented beverage, which I don’t think we consume enough of. Kombucha is essentially a tea, which is converted into a fizzy bottle of goodness by a SCOBY (symbiotic colony of bacteria and yeast). It’s delicious and fun to drink!
4. Almond butter. This one can get tricky. It is a great source of healthy fats but should be eaten in great moderation. You can go overboard with mindless almond butter eating very quickly! One of my favorite little snacks is a small bowl of frozen berries with a dollop of almond butter on the top and a sprinkle of chia seeds over the top of that, then microwaved for approximately a minute and a half. Stir that gooey mess together and oooohhh goodness... holy yum. 
5. Turmeric tea. Kind of misleading because this doesn’t actually use a tea bag but it’s so yummy an comforting. All it takes is a mug full of steamed almond milk, a dash of turmeric, a dash of cinnamon, a dash of ginger, a splash of maple syrup and you have yourself a wonderful comforting drink to end your day with! Turmeric is packed with vitamins and minerals and has great anti-inflammatory properties. 
   

Eat well my friends! 

XOXO

Em