That's So Primal

RXBAR Review

So maybe crickets aren’t your thing. The idea of eating crickets for breakfast freaks you out a bit. Well, we’re still not left with many “real” food options for breakfast/energy bars. The hardest part for these energy whole food bars to figure out is what protein source to use. Larabar has one that uses pea protein. Quest makes this low carb one that uses whey protein. Then there are these amazing ones that use cricket flour. Then one day as I was browsing on Instagram I came across Melissa Hartwig (Whole30 co-creator) showing off RXBARs.

A photo posted by Melissa Hartwig (@melissa_hartwig) on Oct 10, 2015 at 5:39pm PDT

I’ll admit the first thing I was drawn to, being that I’m a designer by day, was the package design. The minimalist package design was right up my alley so I tapped the Instagram account of RXBAR and read a little bit and saw that their protein source was egg whites. That’s a perfect alternative for people who are put off by cricket flour, whey, pea or brown rice protein.

RXBAR

Egg whites are a real food. So naturally I was excited to try out these bars. I reached out to RXBAR and they sent me one of each of their flavors. It took awhile to get this review out because I wanted to eat one across the span of a week or so. Eating a bar after swimming and working out and to see how I felt after. I didn’t want to just nibble on each bar and tell you how they tasted, though I’ll cover that, I wanted to see how well they held me over and worked as a meal replacement/addition. As we do with all product reviews here we’ll be talking about the Nutritional Profile, Affordability and Taste.

RXBARs are Whole 30

Nutritional Profile

RXBAR has a total of 7 flavors with 3 core ingredients: Egg Whites, Fruits & Nuts. Each bar has pretty much the same nutritional profile (more or less), so for this we’re only gonna look at my favorite flavor: Coconut Chocolate. All of their bars are Paleo and Whole30 compliant except for the peanut butter since peanut butter isn’t actually from nuts, its from peanuts which are legumes. Nevertheless, I ate the one they sent me and it was delicious. A little peanut butter never hurt anybody (unless of course you’re allergic to peanuts).

RXBAR Coconut Chocolate
Total Fat: 9g
Total Carbohydrate: 22g (Dietary Fiber 4g, Sugars 13g)
Protein: 12g
Ingredients: Dates, Egg Whites, Almonds, Cashews, Cacao, Coconut, Sea Salt, Natural Coconut Flavor

What we see here is pretty amazing. These bars pack 12g of protein. That’s slightly more than the Exo bars I love so dearly. Where they come up short in comparison to Exo bars is how much fat is in the bars. 9g isn’t as much as Exo’s 20g of fat. Don’t get me wrong though, this is still more fat than Chapul or other grain filled breakfast bars. I’m just pointing out it isn’t as much as Exo’s because that’s ultimately what makes Exo a little more sustaining. What RXBARs really are is a Larabar with egg whites. Larabars have about 10g fat (Coconut Cream Flavor) and no protein other than that naturally occurring in the nuts.

These are still a great option for a quick breakfast on the go because they will hold you over longer than Chapul and Larabars but not as long as an Exo bar would. Remember fat is your friend. It’s the body’s preferred source of fuel. Don’t fear the fat and shun these just because they aren’t ultra low fat. They’re like mid fat. I’d prefer them to have a little more coconut. If you compare this to another whole food breakfast it would be something like 2 scrambled eggs in 1/2T butter (12g fat, 2 carb, 12g protein) and a small banana (.3g fat, 23g carb, 1g protein). Not a bad way to start off your day. All in all these bars have an impressive nutritional profile, are a whole food and are quick & easy. These are a winner in my book when compared to the rest of the junk out there.

RXBAR Review

Affordability

RXBARs (All Flavors)
Price per bar: $2.05 (subscription)
Price per 12 bar box: $24.69 (subscription)

The price point of these actually lands in a good range. They’re a whole food bar, like I’ve been saying over and over, and they break down to only about $2 a bar. That’s great! Compare that to Exo bars at about $3 a bar – that’s more expensive yes, but you are paying for a slightly more sustaining bar. But then if you look at these Larabar ALT bars they come out to about $1.25 a bar, which is pretty cheap, but they have 30g carbs and they use pea protein for their protein source which may cause gut irritation for some people.

My point is, there is always a give and take. Cheap breakfast bars are filled with junk, whereas expensive breakfast bars are filled with amazing crickets and coconut (things good for you). RXBARs I feel land in a great spot at $2 because their price is middle of the road compared to the cheap and expensive alternatives – but you don’t have to give up quality.

Cinnamon Apple RXBAR

Taste

These flavors all had the same underlying taste of dates and figs but the differences came out in the nuances of the additional ingredients in each of the flavors. I’m glad I got to check all of them out (even the Peanut Butter).

Chocolate Sea Salt
This was the second least chewy of all the bars. It has a very noticeable salt flavor at first that’s followed by the deep chocolate flavor that left a lingering after taste. There isn’t too much crunch in this bar. If you’re a chocolate lover, you’ll love this bar.

Pumpkin Spice
This one reminds me of a gingerbread cookie. Nice and soft texture with the perfect amount of crunch. This bar was also not too sweet, I like that. Perfect Fall flavors in this bar.

Chocolate Coconut
This bar was my favorite. Still not too sweet and just the right amount of coconut flavor. Just the right amount of crunch from the nuts and cocoa nibs. The chocolate flavor was subtle and not overpowering.

Peanut Butter
This one had softest texture of all of them. Very straight peanut butter taste to the bar. It reminded me a lot of Tiger Milk bars, minus the chocolate. I used to eat those when I was a kid but not any more. If you like peanut butter and if peanuts don’t give you gas, and if you’re not Paleo this is a great protein bar.

Blueberry
Lots of texture from the nuts and dried berries in this bar. If you like blueberry, you’ll love this bar because it’s very blueberry tasting. I happen to like blueberries amongst all other berries: raspberries, strawberries, blackberries – so this bar was right up my alley. Not too acidic or tart flavored either, very mild tasting.

Apple Cinnamon
This totally reminds me of those instant apple cinnamon oatmeals. They hit the nail on the head with this one. Not very chewy, just the right texture for me and not too sweet. The crunch is nice too just like the rest of them.

Coffee Chocolate
This was the first bar I tasted actually and it was very very chewy. It almost made my jaw hurt. Not sure what impacted the bar in that way because not all of them were this hard. Maybe I should’ve set it in the sun for a few minutes. There was a nice subtle and pleasant coffee taste. Not too sweet. Just the right amount of crunch. I really liked the coffee flavor, not bitter at all.

Bye Bye RXBAR

Conclusion

Like I’ve already said if crickets aren’t your thing, this is the next best thing. At $2 a bar, 12g protein and great flavor options these bars are clear winners.

Buy some samples and decide for yourself:*
Get $5 off your first RXBAR order!
RXBAR Sampler Pack
*After you figure out which flavor of RXBAR you like I suggest you sign up for a subscription.

Seasoning a Cast Iron Skillet

My buddy was trying out my recipe for a simple stir fry in a skillet but I failed to mention in that recipe that I make that particular portion size in a 12” Lodge Cast Iron. So as he was going to do the recipe he realized it all didn’t fit in the skillet he had. So he did what any level headed person would do – he bought a larger cast iron skillet.

Seasoned the new #castironskillet

A photo posted by Scott Dreger (@scottdreger) on Oct 18, 2015 at 10:07am PDT

Now whenever you buy a new cast iron skillet it says they’re already seasoned in their factory, which is true but it’s always a good idea to give them a really good seasoning again yourself. Cast iron skillets will still take a while to break in, you’ll have to cook with them a lot and not use soap to clean them for them to really turn into awesome non stick pans. However, the starting place is to do an initial seasoning of your own.

Now, I’m not reinventing the wheel here, nor was my buddy who offered to take photos of him seasoning his own skillet. He followed Nom Nom Paleo’s guide, so the directions listed below are just following Nom Nom’s guide with the exception of doing the seasoning at 350°F instead of 400°F because a lot of the people’s comments said 400°F smoked like crazy.

1-Before
Brand spanking new skillet from Amazon.

2-Preheat the Oven
Preheat oven to 350°F.

3-Washing the Pan
Give the pan a good scrub with hot water to remove any weird stuff that could’ve collected on there from Amazon’s warehouse. Note: Scott’s brush is terrible, I suggest using these to “clean” your skillet after you’re done cooking with them. Just don’t use soap.

4-Coconut Oil
Nom Nom says to use refined coconut oil, but Scott just used what he had on hand. No worries, the idea is just to get a good saturated fat on the pan because saturated fat has less of a propensity to oxidize like a mono or polyunsaturated fat. Some argue that the oxidation is what you want on the pan so they use canola oil, but I don’t like the idea of even buying death canola oil. It’ll just take a little longer for the saturated fat to oxidize in the skillet I guess.

5-Oil in the Pan
Then throw in about a teaspoon or more of your fat of choice and rub it all over the skillet.

6-Place in the Oven
Place the skillet upside-down in the oven after it reaches 350°F. Make sure you have a foil lined baking tray in the bottom to catch anything that drops and to prevent smoking in the oven. Leave it in the oven for about an hour.

7-After
After the oven and skillet cool, you can enjoy your re-seasoned cast iron skillet! Now remember stuff will still stick for awhile, you’ll just need to keep using it and it will get better with time. Like a good pair of raw denim or natural leather.

8-Ready to Cook
Finally, Scott can fit my skillet recipe in his skillet.

Photo credits: Scott Dreger

Mom’s Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

Mom's Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

I love Halloween, not for the candy, but for my Mom’s roasted pumpkin seeds. Growing up, my family always carved pumpkins as a kind of family tradition. As I’ve gotten older and married and had a kid we still carve pumpkins at my parents house every year. I do have to say even as a kid I think I looked forward to this more than candy and trick or treating. Why, you may ask? Well, I’ve just always been a salty person over a sweet person, but also because my Mom’s roasted pumpkin seeds were so good.

Mom's Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

It always went down like this: kids carved the pumpkins, and while we were carving the pumpkins, magically, the seeds that we just scraped out of the pumpkins showed up on the table roasted, toasted and perfectly salty. I never paid attention to the fact that while I was trying to think of the best Jack-o’-lantern face to carve on the pumpkin, my Mom was at work in the kitchen washing and roasting the pumpkin seeds so that we could eat them while we were still working on our Jack-o’-lanterns. Now yes some people soak their seeds overnight, boil their seeds then let them dry out or some other time consuming thing that doesn’t work for my instant gratification self.

Mom's Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

The whole idea of this recipe, as it seemed from my mom, was to just get the seeds roasted and salted as quickly as possible so that we could enjoy them as quickly as possible. That’s what she did while we were growing up and that’s what she does still today. So when we went over this last Sunday to carve pumpkins I told her I wanted her recipe for how she roasted the pumpkin seeds. This couldn’t have been easier – it’s so simple: scoop the seeds, pick out the seeds from the flesh and sorta wash them, toss on the tray with olive oil and salt. Boom 15 minutes later you have perfectly roasted and salty pumpkin seeds. It doesn’t have to be rocket science, just get the seeds in the oven asap while cutting the pumpkins so you can eat them all like a frantic pumpkin seed eating maniac!

Picking out the seeds from the pulp

Washing the seeds

Drying the seeds
Pat the seeds dry

Toss with Olive Oil and Kosher Salt

Before oven

After oven

Mom's Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

2015-10-27 07:30:31

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Ingredients

Pumpkin
Olive Oil
Kosher Salt

Instructions

Preheat oven to 425°.
While the oven is preheating have some fun cutting open the top of the pumpkin. Now scoop out the seeds and stringy stuff into a bowl. After everything is scraped out, separate the seeds from the pulp. Feel free to leave some of the pulp on the seeds as this adds taste and texture.
After the seeds are separated put them in a strainer and wash them under water for just a second. Pat the seeds dry with a towel. Then toss the seeds on a baking tray. Pour some olive oil over the seeds and sprinkle kosher salt to taste over the seeds and mix it all around with a wooden spoon. I don’t have exact measurements on this as it doesn’t really matter. Just play with it and see what works for you. Again, it’s not rocket science. Just make sure to keep the seeds away from the sides of the tray so they don’t burn.
Now put the tray in the oven for 15–20 min. Stir the seeds on the tray half way through. Watch the tray closely at 15 min and roast to your liking. Just make sure they don’t burn as this can happen quickly near the end.

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

Joshua Weissman Interview

Joshua Weissman

Joshua Weissman from Slim Palate sat down with me to answer some questions about what Paleo looks like for him, a little about his weight loss journey and what some of his favorite recipes are from his book and blog. I’m so stoked to be able to have had the opportunity to connect with Josh because my wife and I absolutely love his recipes. His carnitas recipe is to die for and I really love this pork chop sage recipe he has in his book.

Josh will be able to explain it a little more in detail, but he first got into Paleo to lose weight and along the way found that he needed to work on building muscle. He talks about how being strict Paleo was even contributing to him being underweight. I love the perspective he brings to the idea of what a healthy diet and lifestyle looks like for you. Being healthy doesn’t just mean being super thin, it looks completely different for everyone. I also will be giving away a free copy of his book The Slim Palate Paleo Cookbook, all you have to do is sign up for my newsletter for a chance to win. I’ll give a week for people to sign up and I will select a winner by Halloween, October 31, 2015. So please take some time to read the interview and sign up for my newsletter, you won’t be sorry!

Before we get into it, tell us a little bit about yourself and how you got into Paleo.

I found Paleo around halfway through my weight loss process. A quick google search got me hooked on the idea almost instantly.

Before and after with stirring shot

I read one of your recent posts about how you lost weight but added back muscle. Can you talk about that a little bit and how that journey has been?

I am so happy that I was able to find my way to that. I gained about 70 pounds of pure mass, mostly muscle. Honestly, I basically went through a body dysmorphic phase after the weight loss. I was so concerned about being under 10 percent body fat that I continued to eat low carb when I shouldn’t have. Ironically I found that carbs were an important role in not just gaining muscle but staying lean for ME.

Big gains for my first year of bulking

What kind of fitness plan were/are you on that accomplished building back muscle?

I am much more specific in my post about the weight gain. To put it in simple terms I first started with a linear progression program for 12 weeks and was eating about 6,000 calories a day. Then the second 12-week plan was a mix of a main lift that built strength then worked a bit on hypertrophy. Then I had yet another 12 week phase where I did some german volume training and added in some more bodybuilding like movements. I put emphasis on the fact that I was eating REAL food for this hyper caloric form of eating.

What tips do you have to help people fit in working out?

Do wherever and whenever. Create a schedule that works somewhat well for your daily life and stick to that plan no matter what. Mine is usually Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and friday, for workout days. I workout at 9 am each and every time. That way when I get home I have the whole day ahead of me to get stuff done and I already have my workout in. Everyones schedule is different but if the president has time to workout then so do you. It doesn’t have to be elaborate and long winded if you don’t want it to be.

My wife and I love your cookbook, The Slim Palate Paleo Cookbook. What’s your favorite recipe out of the book?

That is a very hard question, it’s like asking who my favorite child is. I do really enjoy the braised Moroccan chicken. I make that one all the time!

What’s your favorite recipe from your blog?

Again; asking me which child is my favorite. My chewy chocolate chunk cookies are internet renowned for being the BEST paleo chocolate chip/chunk cookies on the planet. There pretty rad if I do say so myself.

What would you say a healthy diet and lifestyle looks like for you?

For me it involves a good amount of functional movement, keeping you joints in use, not too much sitting. Of course eating real food in a fashion that works well for you and makes you feel your best and most energetic. All the while making sure to treat yourself every once in a while and not feeling bad about it.

I absolutely love your carnitas recipe. It’s almost a staple meal in our house and I equally loved your post explaining your draw to Mexican food. What other Mexican inspired dishes do you make often?

I often find myself making several types of fancy tacos. I like the ability to make different fillings and toppings for them with an entirely different end product. I know it’s simple and sounds juvenile but it really speaks to my heart like no other dish.

What does a typical week of meals look like for you?

Well right now I’m going through a macro counting cutting phase to prepare myself for my next bulk. Basically on workout days my breakfast consists of 4 eggs and a couple egg whites for extra protein (don’t worry I use the yolks from those to make mayonnaise, dressings, and sauces. I never throw them away.), 3 slices of bacon, some sort of starchy carbohydrate like sweet potato or sometimes oats (yeah I know not exactly paleo but it’s worked wonders for me). For lunch I’ll eat a couple pork chops or chicken breasts with a pound and a half of cooked white rice or so (no joke), a lot of steamed vegetables, and butter or olive oil to flavor the rice. For dinner I might have 3 or so white potatoes some fish or chicken, and maybe cheese and butter on the potato. These are all very vague examples but for the most part it’s something like this.

How do you do meal planning?

I don’t really meal plan, although I have been thinking about doing it. I sort of just go with the flow and tend to defrost enough stuff that I will always have something on hand that I want. I don’t usually plan it out unless it’s something really specific. We do spend a lot on groceries but that is because we can afford it, plus it is easy to eat real food without breaking the bank if you need to. I know this because I’m moving out for the first time on my own and have already calculated my expenses for that.

Can you always afford to buy top quality meat, grass fed/pastured? Or if your budget doesn’t afford it do you do conventional meat?

We don’t ever buy conventional meat but I may be purchasing it on occasion when I move out. We get all of our meats from Yonder Way Farm.

On the spectrum of very strict Paleo to very lenient Paleo where do you fall and why? What foods do you eat that are on the boarder of Paleo-Non-Paleo?

Very, very, very, lenient. I’m so close to hopping off of the terminology bandwagon, which I will explain in a post on my blog soon (I’m not breaking up with paleo). I eat foods like oats, white rice, and other gluten free foods on occasion. Sometimes I eat gluten too cue evil music.

What kind of food do you eat when you’re not cooking something up at home?

Chipotle of course!

What are some struggles/roadblocks that you’ve run into eating Paleo?

Becoming underweight was sort of a result of staying strict paleo for too long for me.

What inspires you to try out new recipes and dishes? Are there certain foods you have a hard time experimenting with?

If I have never tried something before then I usually take it as a challenge to make sure that I do taste it as soon as possible, mainly because I’m impatient. I don’t have a hard time experimenting with anything even if I might find it repulsive at first.

Do you have any tips for someone who is just starting out on Paleo?

I would recommend staying on it strictly for a set amount of time like 6 months or a year and then slowly reintroducing foods to see what works for you.

What is your favorite: protein, vegetable (leafy or hardy), starch and fat?

Protein: Pork (anything pork)

Vegetable: Hardy, such as roasted brussels sprouts

Starch: White rice, or homemade gluten free pasta, or homemade croissants if I’m really in the mood for that. Yeah I know not paleo but like I said, I have begun to just stick to the mantra of eating REAL food and adhering to more of an 80/20. What falls into my 80 percent is what works for ME, and what falls into my 20 percent are things that I’m still iffy about digestion wise A.K.A what gives me the rooty toots; if ya know what I mean.

Fat: Definitely a quality grass fed butter. Lard is a close runner up but I tend to use butter for a lot of things.It really depends on the use.

What can we expect next from you?

I have many goals, all of them are pretty competitive and difficult to get into. Movies, tv, music, and other things that follow that.

More Joshua Weissman

slimpalate.com

@slimpalate

The Slim Palate Paleo Cookbook

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Silkworm Spaghetti Sauce with Spaghetti Squash

This is my entry for Marx Foods Edible Insects Recipe Challenge

Please VOTE for my recipe here!

Silkworm Spaghetti Sauce with Spaghetti Squash

If you think that recipe title is a mouthful, just wait until you taste this recipe. If you didn’t realize already, crickets are the new kale. Well, in this case, silkworms are the new kale. Really the future of food may very well be insects. Ok I know that’s a pretty bold statement and I’m not suggesting they replace a nice pastured pork chop or grass fed ribeye, but they do have their place in our diet and we should consider adding more insects to our plate. You already know I’m a fan of Exo bars made from cricket flour. But I’m also open to different insects that we can consume. If I ever were to go to Thailand that is one thing I definitely look forward to checking out.

Awhile back I remember reading this post and was very much intrigued by the idea of adding more insects to our diet. I stepped in that direction with Exo bars but how can I step more in the direction of entomophagy? Well that’s where this recipe comes in because I got in touch with the nice people at Marx Foods to enter their edible insects contest. So I wanted to do a recipe that wasn’t an energy bar or snack or something. I wanted to look at a practical way of how I could incorporate insects into a meal our family would eat. So I contemplated all the meals we make regularly, one of which is a Paleo form of spaghetti. I prefer spaghetti squash as a wheat pasta replacement whereas my wife prefers zucchini noodles. Either would be fine for this recipe but I’m going to make this with spaghetti squash.

As for the sauce, that’s where the insects come in. Normally, when we make sauce, I either make a simple marinara from scratch or, if I’m pressed for time, I find a jar of sauce with no sugar and extra virgin olive oil (not industrial seed oil like canola oil). Then we usually add in some grass fed ground beef and ground pork sausage. But for this recipe I decided to replace the protein with insect protein – silkworms. Why silkworms? Well I just didn’t think crickets would be that good in spaghetti sauce. They would be a little too crunchy, but not the silkworms – they would be perfect. So let’s get on to the recipe!

Spaghetti Squash before oven.

Spaghetti Squash after oven.

Spaghetti Squash after shredding.

Silkworms.

Silkworm closeup.

I like using fresh herbs from our garden. I encourage you to do the same if you have them.

Onion, garlic and silkworms
Onions, garlic and silkworms right before the tomatoes are added.

Sauce before stew time
All the ingredients before simmering for 1 hour.

Sauce after 1 hour
After 1 hour.

Ready to eat
Looks just like a regular plate of spaghetti…except it has bugs.

Yes, I ate it.

I tried to get my wife to eat it…

She didn't, so I ate the rest
She didn’t, so I ate the rest.

Silkworm Spaghetti Sauce with Spaghetti Squash

2015-10-10 21:06:22

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Ingredients

1 spaghetti squash
15g of silkworms (1 packet)
1T olive oil
2T butter
1/2 onion diced
2 cloves garlic diced
1 8oz can tomato sauce
1 14.5oz can diced tomatoes drained
1/2 6oz can tomato paste
1T fresh basil
1/2T fresh oregano
1/2T fresh thyme
1t garlic powder
1t onion powder
1/2T Italian seasoning
1t kosher salt
Parmesan Cheese
Pepper to taste

Instructions

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.
Silkworm Spaghetti Sauce
In a large skillet over medium heat warm the olive oil. Then toss in the garlic until fragrant. Then toss in the onion and cook until translucent, about 5 minutes. Sprinkle in garlic powder, onion powder, salt and Italian seasoning. Then toss in the silkworms and cook slightly until they start to brown, 1 minute.
Add tomato sauce, paste, drained tomatoes and butter. Stir everything together, not too aggressively as we want to keep the silkworms in tact.
Add in fresh basil, thyme and oregano. Stir everything together.
Now cover and turn heat to low so that the sauce can simmer for 1 hour.
After simmering is done all you have to do is plate some of your spaghetti squash and pour as much sauce as desired on the squash. I like to add a few extra silkworms on top for visual impact. This step isn't necessary, so if you (or your spouse) are squeamish, skip this step. Then top with fresh basil and freshly grated Parmesan cheese.
Don't be scared, Enjoy!

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

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