OK, so I’m much more creative in the gym than in the kitchen, but I don’t exactly starve, either. Most times I don’t plan my meals so much as I throw them together at the last minute; maintaining a strict Paleo household saves me from doing something (eating something) stupid. I guess my point with these food post is to show that one needen’t be a master chef — or even a decent chef — to thrive in the Paleo world. That’s not to say that I don’t appreciate finely crafted meals — I love Meesus TTP’s knocked-out creations! — but left to my own devises, I eat pretty damn basic. It boils down to this: after a long work day, I just don’t have all that much free time, and the free time I do have, I choose to spend on the bike, in the gym, or engaged in Vibram-shod “play”.
Anyway, here we go –
Got a couple of shots here of a brunch I made of sweet potato, bacon and grass-fed beef sausage. The other meal you see here carries the sweet potato theme forward by roasting some chicken quarters over a bed of sliced sweet potatoes. On the side, we have some boiled beets, the greens of which I’ll saute tonight and have along side some pork chops. The white plate contains a “salad” of apricot, walnuts, crumbled bleu cheese and vinaigrette.
By the way, If you haven’t done so, make sure you check-out Jimmy Moore’s interview with Dr. Robert Lustig of Sugar: the Bitter Truth fame. It’s a fantastic, informative, and fast-paced nutritional and biochemical romp. Grab a notebook, check out Jimmy’s show, and come on back in a couple of days to check-out my take on the good doctor’s message.
Theory to Practice 
Hey Keith,
I enjoy seeing the meal pictures – they provide good ideas. I am a little curious about the sweet potatoes in that they typically fall outside the realm of what most paleo subscribers would recommend (although the “tuber” debate seems to be getting more attention). While I’m not a slave to any particular dogma, I am interested in your take on tubers with respect to the starch/insulin component and how you see it fitting into the equation.
Looking forward to listening to Dr. Lustig’s interview.
Summer finally arrived in Seattle….supposed to be in the 90’s here today. Nothing compared to some parts of the country, but hot for us!
Thanks.
Just remember — the only dogma is that there is no dogma. 🙂 The thing about “on the edge” foods is that you have to assess “where you are” against “where you’re going”. If I were actively attempting to cut weight, I’d certainly eliminate the tubers and dairy from my diet; along with fruit, for that matter. As it is, my “look, feel and perform” assessment is right where I want it to be, and so I keep these items in my diet for variety. When I’m out doing a lot of biking and running in the heat, I find that I roll better with a little higher carb content in my diet. This may have more to do with hydration than anything else — whatever it is, though, it’s just better from a performance standpoint. Note that a “high carb” phase for me, though, is still well below 100 grams per day, on average. And I do cycle. Some days will be zero carb days, and some days will go totally fasted. There’s no rhyme or reason to when I do each, other than “feel”. I’ve gotten to where I’m pretty spot-on in listening to my body.
Oh, and insulin response is a product of glycemic value coupled with glycemic load. This is why fruit juice is such a big problem when compared to whole fruit. Huge difference. The fiber content of tubers (especially sweet potatoes) coupled with the relatively scant volume I take in results in an overall, minimized insulin response. BTW, Dr. Lustig covers the glycemic value/load topic quite well in the interview.
Hi Keith,
Thanks for the response. Great stuff.
Keith,
I follow the same routine. When I cook for myself I keep it very simple, and by virtue of the fact that I don’t have crap in the fridge or cupboards I eat a good (albeit perhaps boring) meal… but that aint bad. When the wife cooks there’s a lot more variety, but when she’s not available I don’t use the excuse of not having something from a paleo gourmet cookbook to allow me to eat crap.
Keith,
Looks mighty tasty to me! I think a big part of the reason so many people are afraid of cooking is that 99% of the recipes out there are really intimidating. Lots of exotic ingredients, etc. I’m a big fan of peasant food myself. Simple and delicious is all I need. Dinner for me most nights is a heaping pile of grilled chicken, beef, or salmon, and grilled veggies.
Great term: peasant food 🙂