Our New Family Member

Little Sis

Sorry for the lack of posts the last couple of weeks. I’ve been a little busy as we welcomed our second daughter into the world! For the past few weeks I have been able to stay at home to help out my wife with our toddler and newborn. I have more than loved these last couple weeks off but man is it hard work to be at home with two kids!

A photo posted by Kristi Creasey (@hikristi) on Feb 13, 2016 at 5:46pm PST

We were in the hospital longer than expected because our newborn was in the NICU due to fluid in her lungs after the c-section. She recovered quickly and my wife was doing an amazing job at providing pumped breastmilk and we were discharged within a few days. The last few weeks have flown by though and we are at home now chasing around a toddler and enjoying the time with our newborn. Since I’ve been at home the last couple weeks I’ve noted some things that I wanted to share on how I was able to make the most of my time off and how you can too if you find yourself at home with a newborn.

Kids

Help your wife

Breastfeeding is tough work and some of the most important work. Our daughter being in the NICU for a few days kinda threw off our breastfeeding plans. The NICU demanded a lot of milk, and my wife was able to pump and we had frozen breastmilk at home that we were able to bring in. This led to a tough time at home for my wife to figure out breastfeeding all over again even though she nursed our toddler until 15 months. We’ve seen a lactation nurse a few times already and my wife is working as hard as she can. All that is to say – breastfeeding and caring for a newborn is tough work and helping your wife in whatever way possible should be your top priority.

Sleep

I know it sounds a little stupid to say to get sleep when you come home with a newborn because everyone says it and it’s near impossible to get sleep with a newborn, but this should almost be your second top priority. Sleep is important for the nursing mom and important for the dad too. Hopefully you can work together with your loved one to fit in as much sleep as possible even if it’s in the form of naps throughout the day or biphasic sleep. Sleep is necessary for breastmilk production and a multitude of other things. Treat sleep as a top priority for yourself when you get home.

Resist the blue light

Sometimes all you may want to do when your newborn goes to sleep is to grab your phone and do something mindless. Now I’m not saying to not do that at all just try to resist it when you’re nearing the end of the day because the blue light from your phone or computer can effect how you sleep because it tricks your body to think that it’s daytime. Apple is tackling this with their new feature to add more yellow light to your screen, but as of this writing this update isn’t out yet. For your computer you can install f.lux to adjust the color temperature of your monitor. Still though, try to get sleep – don’t scroll endlessly on Instagram.

Make some bone broth

You’re at home with a newborn, what a better time to throw a bunch of bones and veggies in a crockpot to make bone broth. I like Nom Nom’s recipe for this or The Domestic Man has a nice recipe in his book. The prep time is super simple and all you have to do is throw this stuff in a crock pot and let it simmer as long as possible. Nom nom also has a great guide for storing bone broth in the freezer.

Make easy meals

I’m chasing around a toddler and my wife is slaving away nursing our newborn so meals need to be easy and simple and preferably provide left overs. So far my favorite go to meals the past couple weeks have been as follows:

Taco bowls – These are super quick to make and provide lots of leftovers. Just buy a bunch of ground beef and cook it once so you can assemble these bowls for a couple of days.
Slow cooker kalua pig – Grab and big pork shoulder and let it slow cook overnight and you’ll have meals for a few days. We eat this with salad, cal rose rice or baked potatoes. Don’t fear the carbs here, they’re necessary for the breastfeeding mom and if the rice and potatoes are eaten leftover as cold they provide resistant starch for your gut bacteria.
Burgers and fries – No not McDonald’s, make your own. Buy a bunch of ground beef and sweet potatoes and you can make a pretty tasty meal super quick. Burgers cook quick on the BBQ and fries can be cut and tossed in the oven in no time. Make extra patties for tomorrow’s lunch or dinner and just eat these lettuce wrapped or on a pile of mixed greens.
Eggs and bacon – Breakfast doesn’t have to be fancy. Just eat some eggs and bacon. The eggs are great for the nursing mom because of the choline and cholesterol in the yolks. Luckily we have an amazing egg farm near us where we can buy eggs in bulk at a great price.

Enjoy your family

We have been blessed with the opportunity for my wife to stay at home with the kids, so being at home with the whole family is something I was able to enjoy the last couple of weeks. I told myself to get off the phone, skip trying to get good pictures of the kids and just soak it all in. The kids will grow up quick so just stop and really soak in the time that you get to spend uninterrupted with your family.

Go outside

I work inside a building all day normally. So being at home with my toddler and newborn was a perfect time to break the norm and actually let my skin get some sunlight during midday. We busted out our bouncer in the backyard and just hung out outside. We need vitamin D and nothing’s better than midday sun to get that vitamin D synthesizing for mom, dad and the kids.

Eat some pizza and ice cream

What?!?! Now unless your Celiac or truly have a dairy allergy disregard this one. But sometimes we just needed a pizza and some ice cream. During your time off with a newborn your diet isn’t gonna be perfect. Don’t worry about it. One pizza and some ice cream here and there in an otherwise healthy person isn’t going to make you unhealthy just as one or two healthy meals in an unhealthy person won’t make them healthy. Don’t let perfect be the enemy good. Is that how that phrase goes? Not sure, just know we abide by the 80/20 principle and a pizza here or there isn’t going to kill you.

Go on walks

Along with getting sunlight we need to move more. Getting outside on walks is good for your health and for your sanity too so that you don’t get cabin fever while you’re at home with a newborn. If you’re at home with your first kid or you have a whole tribe, try to make time to get out of the house to break up the day and go on a walk.

These are just a few ideas that stuck out for me as I’ve been home the last few weeks. Feel free to share any thoughts you had on how to stay healthy and sane while at home with a newborn in the comments below. Thanks for reading!

Macadamia Coconut Butter

I first caught a glimpse of coconut butter in this video where Mark says he eats some for an afternoon snack. So I headed over to Nikki’s and bought a jar and once it arrived I’m pretty sure I consumed it all in just a couple of days. I would just keep buying it by the jar but I wanted to take a stab at making it myself. After some googling I found this recipe for how to make some yourself. I pretty much followed this recipe with a few tweaks.

Macadamia Coconut Butter

One thing I love about this snack is it sustains you. A couple spoonfuls by itself can satisfy an afternoon craving, or you can eat it with some fruit or apples like I do after dinner. One time in particular that I find this a great snack to have on hand is when I go to the river with my family. Going to the river normally includes lots of wake boarding, paddle boarding and more activity than I normally get at my (standing) desk job. So after breakfast and a nice wake boarding run this butter really comes in handy to provide energy and give a huge dose of fat.

Macadamia Coconut Butter & Apples

If you’re body has been trained to use fat for fuel this will work great. If you’re still stuck being a sugar burner, this might just be extra calories that you’re body doesn’t know how to use efficiently. For more info on becoming a fat burning beast check out this post.

Only three simple ingredients

Coconut flakes

Roasted & salted macadamia nuts

Dates
Dates

Get all your ingredients ready to go

Blend the 1 cup nuts, with 1 cup of the flakes and dates first

It should then look like this

Then add the rest of the coconut flakes all the way to the top

Set it to on for about 15 minutes

After 5 minutes it will start to look like this

When it's done, it should be steaming and in a liquid state
When it’s done, it should be steaming and in a liquid state

Once it's blended to your liking, transfer it to a mason jar and enjoy by the spoonful!
Once it’s blended to your liking, transfer it to a mason jar and enjoy by the spoonful!

Macadamia Coconut Butter

2016-02-13 18:04:31

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Ingredients

1 cup roasted and salted macadamia nuts
5 cups unsweetened coconut flakes or shreds
4 dates

Instructions

In a food processor, like this one I use, blend nuts and 1 cup of coconut and dates first until it’s all blended roughly, about 30 seconds.
Now the easy part, dump the rest of the coconut inside the food processor. It should fill the food processor all the way to the top. Disregard the line that says don’t fill past this line. We’re gonna break the rules. Now turn the food processor to on and leave it on until the butter is a nice creamy texture to your liking. This takes about 15–20 minutes for me and my climate. I’ve noticed that the ambient temperature in my house or time of year effects how quickly the coconut turns into butter. Just watch it and taste it and stop when you’re satisfied.
Once it’s all blended into butter, transfer it to a jar or some other container. It should probably be good for a week or so but I guarantee you’ll eat it all before it goes bad. Enjoy!

That's So Primal https://www.thatssoprimal.com/

7 Tips for Moving More

Statistically by this time of the year most people have failed at their new years resolutions. Only 8% of people achieve their new years resolutions in the end. So what are you to do if by this time you’ve already failed? I suggest you just try to not make it a thing and just readdress how you want to achieve your health goals this year. I’ve already written a general guide for simplifying Paleo so it sticks, but how can we simplify our movement and fitness goals too?

The tips I’ve listed below aren’t necessarily for people who are die hard cross fit folks or people who have no problem sticking to a fitness schedule – these tips are for people who want to move more in general, since moving frequently at a slow pace is what we are supposed to do, but have a hard time finding the time to do it in their regimented work schedules and such. Think of these tips as a way to look at your normal routine and how to weave in more movement throughout your day.

1. Park further away

This one is where you have to make the non lazy decision when you’re parking at the grocery store, work, mall or Disneyland. If you park far away from where you’re going you’ll definitely be adding more steps to your daily step count. So to do this all you have to do is stop hunting for the closest spot at the place you’re headed to and park in the spot far away from where you’re going. Finding a spot won’t be a problem because most people hate parking far away.

2. Take the stairs

Whenever you can, try to take the stairs. It’s better for you and gets you moving more. Plus you won’t have to sit around and wait for elevators and have awkward starring non conversations with the people in the elevator. If you take the stairs it’s easy and fast to get to where you need to go.

3. Go to a farmers market

Most farmers markets around me are on Saturday mornings, so this is a great alternative to do at the end of your long work week. Instead of just being a couch potato on the weekends, try to get up and out of the house and to a farmers market. This will ensure that you’re moving around checking out all that the local farmers have to offer. Most of all, not only are you getting in more walking for the day, you hopefully will find some pretty great food. Here you can connect directly with farmers for pastured eggs and more affordable options for grass fed meats and such. If your budget still doesn’t afford those high priced items, the produce will still blow anything from your conventional grocery store out of the water. Check out the fruit samples or tomato samples and notice the difference in taste. Even if you don’t buy anything, you still got out of the house and moved!

4. Go down every aisle

For a grocery store, I normally say avoid going down the center aisles and just stick to the perimeter of the store where real food is. But in any other case that you’re shopping, just take the time to go down every aisle to add more movement to your day. Be cautious with this one if you’re trying to stick to a budget when shopping because stuff will always throw itself at you convincing you that you need the newest vacuum or lawn mower. The marketing people get paid big bucks to convince you that you need the latest and greatest.

5. Take breaks

During you’re regular work day, hopefully you already have a standing desk, but you should also consider taking a few breaks throughout your day to go for a walk or something. Just break away. We weren’t designed to stare at computers all day and we need vitamin D. So take a break from your work and try to move around a little bit. Go with a friend or take some time by yourself and even listen to a podcast. It will make the time pass more quickly. It’s a win win.

6. Drink more water

Now I don’t know if we really need to be drinking 8 glasses of water a day, since we eat a good amount of vegetables and salads, a lot of our liquid will be coming from that. I normally drink about 3 liters of water a day, but that’s just because I really like water. That might even be too much water. But guess what… the more water I drink, the more I have to break away from my desk and use the restroom. It may sound silly, but the more water you drink the more that water needs somewhere to go – which will force you to move around more.

7. Get a dog

I love dogs. We have a Boston Terrier. Now having a dog doesn’t guarantee you’ll move more, it just means you should move more. This is assuming that if you have a dog, you should be taking that dog for a walk or playing with it in the yard. Not everyone does this or even has time to do this, but you can definitely use the excuse of going out for a walk with the dog – if you actually have a dog. It allows for you to contemplate what you do after dinner with the family: do you turn on the TV or do you go for a walk with the family and the dog.

Remember we aren’t shooting for perfection here. These ideas won’t get you ripped like you would be if you’re doing cross fit, but moving frequently at a slow pace will make you overall more Primal and healthier. So lastly, pick up a fitness band or use your smart phone to track your steps and see if you can get to 10,000 steps a day. Most people are around 5,000 steps a day and considered sedentary. That’s not good – get up and move. If you have any more ideas on how we can move more throughout the day, feel free to list them below in the comments.

Primal Kitchen Dark Chocolate Almond Bar Review

Primal Kitchen’s Dark Chocolate Almond Bar

I seem to be in search of the perfect Primal energy bar. I’ve already looked at Exo (my favorite), Chapul and RXBAR. Exo and RXBAR are great options for those that want a whole food source, crickets and whey protein respectively, and carry a good dose of fat also. So after I reviewed those bars I thought I was set with my two perfect options for a quick breakfast or snack at Disneyland. Then scrolling on Instagram one day I came across all these Paleo folk saying they got sneak peaks of this new bar out of Primal Kitchen: Primal Kitchen’s Dark Chocolate Almond Bar.

I immediately got in touch with the people at Primal Kitchen and asked if they could send some bars for me to review and they told me they sold out almost instantly of all these bars but they had a couple still lying around that they were willing to send to me for review. Man was I excited. These bars are different. They meet every requirement of a great Primal energy bar, and as you’ll read below, they seem to be superior to every other bar out there. Let’s take a look at our three categories: Nutritional Profile, Affordability, Taste.

Primal Kitchen’s Dark Chocolate Almond Bar

Nutritional Profile

Now this is really what separates these bars from the pack. My main focus on finding a great Primal energy bar is to make sure it’s not loaded with sugar, has a good amount of fat for energy and has a real whole food protein source. Considering all three of these categories like we did for Exo and RXBAR- these Primal Kitchen bars blow everyone else out of the water.

See some people maybe have a problem with Exo and RXBAR because they use crickets and whey. Not everyone loves crickets and whey. Primal Kitchen on the other hand uses collagen. Collagen you say? Yes. Check out the FAQs from their own site:

Q: WHAT THE HECK IS COLLAGEN?

A: Collagen is the protein that holds everything in your body together. It makes up about 30% of all the protein in the human body, and is found in your bones, tendons, ligaments, connective tissues and skin, and plays various roles in your overall health. Collagen production naturally declines with age, reducing the structural integrity of the skin and instigating the weakening of cartilage in joints. You can help make up for decreased collagen production by eating collagen sourced from grass-fed bovines pasture-raised in Brazil.

Q: WHY SHOULD I EAT COLLAGEN?

A: The collagen protein used in Primal Kitchen Dark Chocolate Almond Bars is collagen hydrolysate from grass-fed cows, which is broken down into individual amino acids and easier to absorb and digest, so it’s a preferable alternative to taking collagen in, say, capsule form. Furthermore, it’s 100% protein, and we all know the benefits of ingesting clean protein.

Collagen is such a great option for protein bars and it’s something I haven’t seen packaged quite like this before. This may be a great option for you if the idea of crickets is weird to you or if you don’t do whey protein. I’m pretty sure every Paleo and Primal person should do collagen.

Let’s take a look at how the rest of the bar breaks down:

Primal Kitchen Dark Chocolate Almond Bars
Total Fat: 15g
Total Carbohydrate: 14g (Dietary Fiber 6g, Sugars 3g)
Protein: 15g
Ingredients: Almonds, Roasted Pumpkin Seeds, Grass-Fed Collagen, Isomalto-Oli – gosaccharides (Cassava Root), Water, Coconut Flakes, Honey, Natural Flavors, Coconut Oil, Bitter Chocolate, Cocoa Powder, Himalayan Pink Salt, Monk Fruit Extract, Tocopherols (Vitamin E)

Now there’s no way to look at that and every other bar out there (including my favorites Exo and RXBAR) and not determine that this bar is superior. It has more fat than the rest, less sugar than the rest and more real protein than the rest. I would consider that superior.

Primal Kitchen’s Dark Chocolate Almond Bar

Affordability

Well ok you may say, ok Randall you say these bars are superior but how much will it cost me?

Primal Kitchen Dark Chocolate Almond Bars
Price per bar: $2.99
Price per 12 bar box: $35.95

At about $3 a bar that’s a steal in my opinion. You can look at my review regarding Paleo granola and realize that you’ll have to pay more for better food. Sure you could spend less on a sugar laden soy bar or you could spend slightly more and eat a superior protein bar.

If you look at these bars as what they are, real food, it’s a great deal to have something on hand that has such a great breakdown of fat, carbs and protein. Not to mention that there’s no way I would go out of my way to buy all these ingredients and try to make this bar myself at home, I’d rather have a 12 bar box on hand and grab one when I need some real whole food that’s gonna fill me up and give me energy in a pinch.

Primal Kitchen’s Dark Chocolate Almond Bar

Taste

Man are these bars good. Their taste is a really pleasant dark chocolate taste. Not too sweet but just the right amount of sweet for me. The only part that was a little tough was the texture to these bars. They are really chewy, not sure if all of them will be that chewy or if it was just the ones sent to me. The crunch to these bars was just perfect though to break up all the chewiness.

As for the collagen – didn’t even taste it. Don’t think you’re gonna bite into these bars and taste a cup of bone broth. Not happening. Just know that you will taste a pleasant dark chocolate nutty, slightly sweet bar that has 15g of collagen packed protein into it.

Primal Kitchen’s Dark Chocolate Almond Bar

Conclusion

I think I found my new favorite protein bar. I will definitely be alternating between these and my Exo subscription. The only problem is that these bars have been out of stock on their site since they were announced. So keep checking back on their page to see when they’re back in stock and grab a box of 12 for yourself. If you buy them and don’t like the rest of the box feel free to contact me and I’ll eat them for you.

Thanks Primal Kitchen for making the perfect primal energy bar!

Get your Primal Kitchen’s Dark Chocolate Almond Bar Here

Easy Primal Spaghetti

Happy National Spaghetti Day. You don’t have to skip out on a plate of spaghetti today just because you decided to go Primal this year. You can still enjoy a nice spaghetti dish without all the carbs and wheat by making this simple meat sauce with julienne zucchini or spaghetti squash. This recipe is great if you want a nutritional Primal meal that’s super easy. Sure you can make your own spaghetti sauce like I did here for my silkworm spaghetti but sometimes dinner needs to be really easy to assemble. So for this recipe we use jars of spaghetti sauce. I look for two main things when buying spaghetti sauce for this recipe:

Extra Virgin Olive Oil
No Added Sugar

This may be pretty tough to find a sauce that meet those two requirements because most sauces have cheap cancer oil like canola oil and added sugar. So for this recipe I used these jars of sauce:

Clean spaghetti sauce with no added sugar and real extra virgin olive oil

So enjoy National Spaghetti Day guilt free and whip up some of this super easy sauce and noodles. We normally double the sauce recipe and make a bunch of frozen portions, so the photos below are a doubled portion of my ingredient list for the sauce. So don’t freak out if your pot doesn’t look that full!

Spaghetti Squash before oven

Spaghetti Squash after oven

Spaghetti Squash after shredding

Fresh herbs
Fresh thyme, basil & oregano

Zucchini before the microwave

Zucchini after the microwave

Grass fed ground beef

Sweet Italian pork sausage

Finished sauce ready to eat!

Plated ready to eat

Easy Primal Spaghetti

2016-01-04 14:53:19

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Ingredients

1lb Grass fed ground beef
1lb sweet sausage ground
(or 2lb of any mix you like bison, boar, venison, rabbit, etc…)
2 25oz jar of clean spaghetti sauce
Half stick of grass fed butter
Handful of fresh basil, oregano, thyme
Freshly grated parmesan (optional)
4 Zucchini or
1 Spaghetti Squash

Instructions

My wife likes julienne zucchini for the pasta alternative and I like spaghetti squash. So depending on what pasta alternative you choose will determine what you start first. If you do spaghetti squash you’ll want to get that in the oven first. If you do zucchini you’ll do that last.
Spaghetti Squash
I like to bake the spaghetti squash based on the way Melissa Joulwan outlines in Well Fed because it comes out perfect every time. Turn the oven to 375° and place the squash, cut in half and seeds scooped out, face down on a parchment lined baking tray. Add 3 tablespoons of water to the tray and bake for 35 minutes.
Once done baking let the squash cool. Then use a fork to scrape the flesh of the spaghetti squash into noodle like strands.
Zucchini Noodles
Use this julienne peeler and julienne 2 zucchini per person, so 4 for 2 people, and put in a microwave safe container and microwave covered for 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper when out of the microwave.
Spaghetti Sauce
Cook the ground beef in a skillet until all the pink is cooked out. Season with salt and pepper. Chop up the meat so it's in small crumbles.
Get the spaghetti sauce warmed up in a big pot like this on low. Once the ground beef is finished, add it to the sauce warming up.
Then cook the ground sausage until cooked through. Once done add to the sauce also.
Chop up all your herbs and toss into the sauce. Add in butter also and stir around so everything mixes together nicely. If the spaghetti squash is still going let it finish and keep the sauce on low flame until you’re ready to serve. If you’re doing zucchini then now you can get that going in the microwave.
Once everything is done, assemble your plate and top with freshly grated parmesan if you like. Enjoy!

That's So Primal https://www.thatssoprimal.com/

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