An ongoing experiment in a primal family... page 11

[Team Oberg]

I just decided the same after making up a batch of chocolate almond butter and eating it with a spoon....yeah cocoa powder + stevia + almond butter. It is like being a crack addict trying to quit with someone dangling a big bag of crack in your face...it just doesnt work. Hope that quitting the nut addiction helps you on the way to your goal!!! Don't smoke the proverbial crack!

[Team Oberg]

Hmmm....I thought I posted yesterday, but often I just hit enter after I am done writing and forget to actually post. Yeah...I can be dumb like that sometimes. So here is a weekend recap

I totally effed up this weekend....I was literally forced at gun point to consume a large, sugary, trans-fat laden doughnut. Seriously....they made me. Ok, well perhaps no one made me, but I was stuck in this NRA class all day long and thought it would be a good time to IF...boy was I wrong. There were 3 of those giant sized boxes of beautiful doughnuts and 3 whole pizzas from dominos with the breadsticks for 9 students and 3 instructors. Talk about overkill. Anyways...I ate a doughnut....seriously you don't put that spread out in front of a girl who is on her period...it is just cruel.

Fortunately, no negative side affects for me, I just let it slide instead of feeling like shit about it. Which really made the whole experience much better since I didnt feel the need for corporal punishment. For once I let go and moved on, which is so much better than trying to over-compensate for the damage later. Yay me!

Sunday we went to the country and rode some horses, had a little BBQ with friends and I made uh-mazing chocolate almond cake. Holy balls that stuff made me want to cry it was so delicious!! But wait....theres another surprise behind door number 3, I officially got all of the almond butter out of the house, yep, got all used up on the cake and now it cant taunt me from my fridge! Back to the cake...I bet you want the recipie don't ya?

1/2 cup coconut oil, melted
1 cup cocoa powder
1 cup almond flour
4 eggs
1/2 tsp salt
1tsp baking soda
3/4 ish cup honey, I used less than that for me it was 1/2 cup and then drizzled more in til I got the taste I want

Now, mix all that shit together and try not to eat all of the batter with a spoon. Grease up an 11 x 7 pan with coconut oil, or whatever pan you want to use, bake at 375 for 25-30ish minutes or until it passes the knife shoved in the middle test. Then enjoy, or if youre smart like me bring it to a BBQ so you don't eat the entire cake by yourself.

Today, I had a my first session with a personal trainer and he hammered on my legs. I don't think I have ever sweat that much ever...it was fantastic! And then to celebrate my awesome awesome-ness I ate a half a bell pepper stuffed with tuna salad and cottage cheese with mandarin oranges. I want dairy back in my diet, since I can tolerate it just fine, I am going to have it. I had thought that it was what makes my skin break out, but when I stopped eating it my skin still broke out a bit. I found out it is because of a hormonal imbalance because it is always on my chin. So...next time I go to the doctor I might switch my "please dont let me get pregnant this month" pills. The progesterone only pill is not working for me, giving me some cycle-issues too, but if you don't have lady parts you do not want to read about that. It makes me wish I was a lesbian sometimes.

Also, I am making salmon and kale for dinner, not glamourous today but I just want to eat fish all week right now. This is a bit of a self-experiment and a bit of a summer reset, since nitrate free sausages, nut products by the gallon, primal chocolate, and copious amounts of poultry are not exactly ideal. I need to start planning better and making lists and all that other good shit that smart shoppers do instead of winging it and playing mad scientist in the kitchen with whatever I madly grab without thinking.

[Team Oberg]

Protein cheesecake....take one....

My booty was punished yesterday and it needed a protein boost, so I attempted cheesecake, here is what I did

For every person you will need one thing of greek yogurt, one egg, and one scoop of protein powder. I made enough for me and my hubby, at a whopping 45 grams protein per serving. I blended then added some dried gogi berries, vanilla bean, and since it was a little watery looking some coconut flour. Then I baked until it looked set and left it in the oven for a little while after. I let it cool and topped with berries. What I got was not like cheesecake, but more like angel food cake. I may have baked too long or perhaps this is a dish best eaten warm, or maybe next time I need to try a water bath. We will see, but I have no intention of losing the cheesecake battle yet. It was still edible, my hubby put some berry jam that a friend made on his to soften up the texture a bit since it was a little dry. I am off to trader joes today for more greek yogurt, for "cheesecake: take two" Finally I found a dessert that is truly good for me instead of just being paleo junk-food. I suppose you could sweeten it if you like, but I think it is fine on it's own.

Also, I need to run down to a butcher shop and pick up a whole brisket from this butcher shop so that my hubby can make another delicious smoked brisket for us this weekend. I am going to take the metro down there, but that also means my very sore tush is going to do a lot of walking.

Also, day two of my fish extravaganza will be the same lunch as yesterday, tuna in a red pepper half, the mandarin orange-cottage cheese-cinnamon combo, and mahi mahi with broccoli. Also, I plan on making kale chips at some point today to snack on. I want to make red cabbage-fennel slaw sometime too, since I am trying to eat a "rainbow of colors" {insert irish accent}, I want more purple in my diet other than just berries and the occasional eggplant....and perhaps the more than occasional red wine.

Also, in a week my mom is coming back into town, heh...lucky me right? God, I can't wait until we get stationed back on the west coast....or even better somewhere in europe.

Yep...lots of "also" in this post but I am not awake enough to transition my paragraphs properly yet.

[jes1014]

Hey "neighbor"! I'm in Springfield
What butcher do you use? We're new to the area and right now I've been getting most of our meat from TJ's and a bit from WF. I want to buy half a cow out by W.VA this summer but until then, someone local would be nice

[Team Oberg]

I use Brabo in old town Alexandria, since it right by my house, but they get a bit expensive, so they are just mainly a source for specialty meats, like the 15lb brisket I just had to carry home. If you wanted to go in together on a cow this summer, my husband and I have been looking for someone else to do that with. Here are some good places to get meat and produce from

This is a good delivery service for meat and eggs. Holy Cow Delivery | Fresh From The Farm To Your Door!

This is another place we go as well. I just call and order what I want online and go pick it up: HFHome

Lastly, it is not perfect, but we go to costco for some things too, you can get frozen wild salmon and other seafood, nitrate free proscuitto, organic chickens, and frozen wild salmon and other seafood...and lets face it, out here if you get wild alaskan salmon it has been frozen anyways.

[Team Oberg]

Day 3 of the new diet, here are all the changes I have made:

I added dairy back in, it wasnt what was causing my skin to break out, since there was no change without it
I am eating tons of fish and barely any poultry anymore
I got rid of nuts, nut butters, coconut milk/cream/meat, save for a handful of pine nuts i cooked with my kale
I have been more mindful of what I am eating and trying to slow down the voracity at which I shovel food down my throat

The results so far? Better skin, better energy, I lost 1/2 inch of my waist, I dont binge or eat past the point of being full, and I am much more satisfied. I think when I stopped the dairy I was using all sorts of nut products to replace it, especially coconut, and while they didn't make me gain weight I do think they were keeping me from cutting my weight down. Also, I noticed I eat much less fruit an crave less sweets. I am just happier, it is difficult to explain and I dont want to get all weird on you so I will just leave it there.

Here is a typical day:

Lunch- greek yogurt + tuna in a red bell pepper plus cottage cheese with 2 mandarin oranges sprinkled with saigon cinnamon

Snack- kale chips and a handful of baby carrots

Dinner- mahi mahi rubbed in curry powder, steamed broccoli, yogurt with 3/4 of a small apple sliced up + cinnamon and cloves. The other 1/4 of the apple fell on the floor and got a nice dusting of pet hair.

This is entirely sustainable for me, I think I may have taken the "dont cound calories and eat high fat" mantra a bit too far. Also, I am getting a new food processor, since I convinced D that I needed one if he wanted me to make chicken nuggets....can you say buffalo-blue cheese nuggets? mmmm

Lastly, dinner for tonight is....yep you guessed it...fish. I will also be attempting cheesecake take 2, thinking of doing it like pineapple upside down cake...that way if it comes out like angel food cake again I will at least have something impressive...if it DOES turn into pineapple upside-down cheesecake well then that is even better!!!

....just really happy I decided to experiment on myself a bit, something I was doing just wasnt working for me anymore.

[namelesswonder]

Feel free to share fish recipes! I never know what to do with fish. I don't want to cook with almonds too often, but I made a really tasty cod with almond flour, baked with butter, this one time. That's all I've got for tasty fish, hehe.

[Team Oberg]

I don't get too creative with fish most of the time since I really enjoy it on it's own, I typically just bake with a pat of butter and whatever spices I feel like that day. Sometimes I slice the fish in half and stuff it full of fruits and blue cheese or veggies, top with carmelized onions, horseradish cream, avocado-balsamic salsa, maple+ ginger+ liquid aminos for asian flavor, or whatever other concoction I have all of the ingredients for. Baking at 425 until it flakes seems to always be the old standby. I tried poaching once and it cooks all the fat out of the fish so it tastes really bland, I needed to smother it in an aoli just to make it edible.

One idea is to try ceviche, it is great on hot days, just marinate chunks of raw white fish in citrus juices, add jalapeno, olive, onion, cilantro, and whatever floats your boat and throw it in the fridge for a few hours. The fish will appear cooked after 3-4 hours, then I toss with avocado and serve.

Lastly...cheesecake take 2 was almost worse....I guess I really do need the cream cheese to make it work...either that or coconut cream concentrate, which would have rocked with the pineapple in this, but I am trying to "lighten up"

Here goes:
16ounces greek yogurt- i used the big tub of trader joe's it is already 2 cups
2 eggs one egg yolk
2 scoops protein powder
vanilla
vanilla bean
and a heaping cup of smashed up pineapple

I lined a round cake pan with parchment, threw in the pineapple and covered with the batter made up of the rest of the ingredients, baked for 45 min or so at 350. It is very spongey. Closer but no cigar. The addition of cottage cheese or goat cheese might help? who knows. It didnt stop me from eating two slices. I might have to break out the coconut cream concentrate to get this right....that shit makes me sad, I just want to stick to my new little "diet" without the coconut. It is still warm so maybe it will dry out into a pound cake like last night...and i can drizzle it was a bit of balsamic reduction. I thought the coconut flour was the problem....wrong again. Aren't you glad I am forced to eat kitchen fuck ups so that you can enjoy something delicious?

[Team Oberg]

I want to start out by saying my cheesecake was much better when frozen for a while, I drizzled D's with honey and topped with almonds, he said it was amazing, but then again he is also a total sweetheart and the only thing he doesnt think is amazing is kale.

Also, since I am training tonight before yoga I decided to switch up my fasting pattern, I just finished a 622 calorie meal (bet youre jealous!!) all for about 50 grams of carbs too and...yep you guessed it, fish. By the time I work out tonight my tummy will be empty and it will be after 9 when we get home so I might as well start a 24 hour fast. I am trying to keep my body on it's toes, to make it easier on myself I am also making dereks dinner in a crock pot so I wont have to cook on an empty stomach. Go me!!!

Also, I have to keep telling myself not to let this 4 day weekend trip me up. When D is off I tend to be easy to coax into cheating, but then again I have always been super easy to peer pressure. I put a picture of a very fit girl with a 6 pack on the background of my phone as a reminder to put down the chocolate and run in the other direction. I need to get some chocolate protein powder, then I can have my cake and drink it to!

Lastly, we are getting a new car this weekend and I am pretty excited. The 4 door sedan just isnt working with the huge clumsy dog and we want to have a baby oberg after this summer. Yep, that me being vain again, I wanted to wait because I wanted to enjoy one last swimsuit season.

[Team Oberg]

I have learned that I just cannot drink...the occasional "night out" just doesn't work for me anymore. A glass of wine with dinner is fine, but any more than that and my brain just uses it as an excuse to eat everything in sight. That is always inevitably followed by shame, regret, and disgust. I am trying to rationalize it right now by calling it a refeed to speed up body comp changes...but that is just an excuse...it was a binge. It was such a shame too because the day started out with some fresh grass-fed burger and caprese style salad from the farmers market. I was actually thinking about seeking some help for my eating issues, because while I appear to be recovered, I clearly still have issues.

Next, our easter was kind of messed up, not my fault this time though. D's brisket was less than perfect, but it was still edible. I am impressed, for his first time smoking a whole packer brisket it was ok. We also had a salad with arugula, berries, and cheese and I made THE cutest effing deviled eggs EVER!

Adorable Deviled Eggs « Saucy Mommy

like that but a little bit neater since I am a bit OCD about my food looking pretty....also it is a good thing that D isnt the biggest fan of deviled eggs, because I did not want to share, I love anything I can put curry powder in, so deviled eggs are a favorite. And, if you haven't got on the cheat-train yet with Annie's Organic smokey-maple BBQ sauce, you do not know what youre missing. I know it isnt perfect, but it is a BBQ without the caramel color, corn syrup, and preservatives, so I'll take it...but seriously...I just want to put a straw in the bottle and drink that shit.

Also, I super wanted to make carrot cake cupcakes for easter, but I bailed on the idea because of the obscene amount I ate. I cant wait for my fast to start tomorrow. D is off work so it is easier for my to have an early dinner and then not eat til dinner the next day then it is to starve myself with him eating in front of me all day. The exciting part of him being off is that we are getting the subaru tomorrow.

Lastly, the people we got some farm fresh eggs, beef, and arugula from are totally interested in selling us a quarter or a half a cow. The burgers I made saturday were so effing delicious I think I could eat a half of a cow pretty quick. And, I found some Kerrygold cheeses at my local supermarket, and I find it very refreshing to be able to just pick up a product and not spend 10 minutes assessing and comparing labels.